


I am looking for you, please come and find me

by DearR



Series: Find, Found, Fought [1]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Enjolras going to Grantaire for help, I'm not sure what else to say about it, Magic, Magical Grantaire, Magical Jehan, Magical Musichetta, They're trying to find someone using magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-05-04 01:08:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14581596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DearR/pseuds/DearR
Summary: On his search for a long lost friend, Enjolras turns towards Grantaire who is supposed to be the best tracker you could find. He's definitely magical but also a bit strange... and so are his friends.Taking his chances, Enjolras decides to let Grantaire lead him and his group to strange places and even stranger situations. Still, Enjolras would put his life into the trackers hands. He’d do about everything it takes to find her.





	1. Part 1, The Forest.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a thing I wrote just because I thought it would be fun to write. Not a lot of planning or world building went into this and I just write the whole magic element in a way that makes sense to me and makes sense for the story. But there's no big plan behind it or rules or whatever, it's just fun and that's it! Short scenes, short chapters, quick storytelling. So hop on for the ride if you feel like it and enjoy! 
> 
> I save all my editing energy for 'The things you find when you're not looking' so I apologize for all mistakes in this fic! I might come back and correct things but it's not supposed to be a masterpiece so... I don't really care. The positive side is I update a lot quicker if I don't edit. :)

‘Well, she’s not on this continent.’ Grantaire let go of his hand and suddenly the room seemed darker. Once again, Enjolras was standing in the small house that was only lit by the fire in the small fireplace. Outside in the dark of the night he could hear something shifting. He looked over his shoulder, but Bahorel and Eponine were still guarding the door and didn’t let themselves be distracted by the strange fellow Enjolras was talking to. 

‘That’s it? You hold my hand for a minute and decide you can’t do it? They said you were the best tracker we could find.’ 

Grantaire frowned at him and crossed his arms. The clothes he was wearing suited his house and his long black hair made it all seemed so much darker. It gave him the creeps. ‘I am. But if she’s crossed a lot of water, even I’m not going to find her from this distance.’ 

‘So she’s lost.’ 

Apparently that was a stupid thing to say because it made Grantaire roll his eyes. ‘I can find her, just not from this distance. We could follow her over land, but it’s going to cost a lot more.’ 

‘We haven’t even discussed money yet.’ 

‘I wasn’t talking about money.’ Grantaire gestured him to take a seat in the only chair while he went over to the table and started going through the diversity of glasswork and pottery. ‘Do you have something that belonged to her?’ he asked while working. 

Enjolras, who had just carefully sat down, shot up again to get the bag he had dropped next to the door to take out an old doll. When he turned back around he saw Grantaire looking at him with a deep frown. ‘How long did you say she has been missing?’ 

‘I haven’t. At least ten years, possibly more.’ 

Grantaire bit his lip thinking. ‘I’ll try again,’ he decided, turning around. Together with his supplies he made his way to the middle of the room and pulled away the carpet. Underneath it was just sand, his house didn’t even have a proper floor. But perhaps it had been designed that way when he took up a stick and started drawing in the sand. With his hands he added more details and smooth patterns. He walked around it a few times to check his work before he nodded and cleaned his hands on his not very clean pants before getting back to his pottery. ‘Here, drink this.’ He hold out a glass to Enjolras. 

‘What for?’ Enjolras said mistrusting. 

Grantaire had already continued but now stopped in his tracks to look at him again. ‘For thirst? It’s just tea, to make you calm down a bit.’ 

By the door, Eponine coughed to get their attention. ‘What creatures live in these woods?’ 

Shrugging, Grantaire just went on with his preparations. ‘All sorts, but they’re scared of me. If you’ve seen nothing so far, they won’t come.’ 

Eponine looked over at Enjolras, who gave a nod that it was alright. Both she and Bahorel left their positions to join them next to the fire. Again, Grantaire gestured them to sit down. Since the only chair was occupied by Enjolras, they made themselves comfortable on the rolled up carpet. Suspiciously, Grantaire followed their moves out of the corner of his eyes to make sure they wouldn’t mess up his pattern. 

‘Now, if you could all kindly shut up,’ he said not very kind, especially since none of them were talking. He took the doll in one hand and kneeled down at the far end of the circles, carefully touching it. For a moment his face just showed concentration but soon he shook his eyes and placed the doll aside. ‘Too old,’ was all he mumbled and got up. He sprinkled the floor with something that almost looked like salt or sugar out of a pot and after a moment of hesitation he swallowed something he got out of another one. ‘This better be worth it,’ he said with a disgusted look on his face. 

‘It is,’ Eponine said but quickly shut up when Grantaire looked over at her. He walked around his patterns again but made sure not to touch anything. When he snapped his fingers, Enjolras started to doubt their decision to come there. So far, nothing had happened he was actually willing to call magical. He looked over at Bahorel, but he was still looking at the door in mistrust of whatever was outside in the forest. When he looked back at Grantaire, he looked right into his eyes. Despite the darkness that was hanging in the room like thick fog, he could see the bright green colour of his eyes. For a moment, their eyes locked and time seemed to slow down. It was as if something was pulling on his eyes, making his head go forward. Except he didn’t move, nothing moved but everything was speeding forward at the same time. And all that time the only thing he could focus on were those green eyes like lights in a dark tunnel. 

When Grantaire suddenly looked away, the room seemed to have cooled down significantly. Careful, walking on his toes, Grantaire stepped into his drawing. Each step was soundless but seemed to create an earthquake at the same time. When he was standing in the right place, Grantaire closed his eyes and slowly spread his arms. A soft vibration made the glasswork tinkle and outside something suddenly ran away. For a minute, Grantaire was a silent image in endless concentration. Then his hand started shaking and a frown appeared on his face. The vibration got audible and with it Grantaire sank to his knees. His eyes were still closed and his hands were fists now. Too caught up in the moment, Enjolras didn’t even register himself holding his breath. Then suddenly, over the drawing a different pattern started spreading. All it’s lines started from Grantaire and were soon spreading across the room, going under the walls and further outside. Now his face wasn’t just frowning, it was filled with pain and his whole body seemed to be shaking. Enjolras would have done something to help him or make it stop, except he had no idea what was even happening and he feared interfering would make it worse. From one moment to the other, it stopped. And Grantaire’s body dropped motionless to the ground. 

-:- 

When he opened up his eyes, the room was lighter than he would have allowed it to be. What could only mean a few things. Either he had eaten up too much of his magic, or Musichetta had arrived. He only had to groan a tiny bit when Joly’s face popped up in his vision. 

‘Are you insane?’ he demanded to know. ‘That boom was heard all the way in the village! You could have at least brought us here before you did something stupid like that.’ 

‘Wasn’t stupid,’ he slurred, slowly sitting up. He was lying partly buried in the sand but his arms were still shaking. ‘They didn’t tell me that next to being too far away she would also be protected.’ He moved his hands through his hair to get at least part of the sand out of it. 

‘We didn’t know.’ 

Grantaire looked up with a shock to see the three visitors still in his house. ‘Oh,’ he said and frowned. The beautiful one frowned right back at him, also confused. ‘Normally people leave after something like that happens.’ 

‘Something like what?’ The tough looking girl was leaning against a wall and had crossed her arms while checking him out. Suddenly he felt weird and exposed, lying covered in sand and dirt in his own house. 

Luckily Musichetta was indeed there and saved him from multiple things by handing him a drink that was supposed to warm him back up. ‘Oh, you know,’ he said shrugging, inhaling the smells coming out of the cup and closing his eyes in bliss. ‘The whole earthquake thing and- How long have I been gone?’ He tried to look out of the door, but Joly pushed him back before he truly could get up. 

‘Too long! A few hours. We were just wondering if we should have buried you deeper.’ 

Grantaire shrugged but it was bad news. ‘That might have helped. I don’t think I’ve ever been that far gone on my own.’ He grimaced. ‘Does my voice sound weird?’ Musichetta and Joly looked at each other before they both rushed to his side just in time to catch the cup that was falling out of his hands. A shock wave went through the earth underneath them and made Grantaire groan. Or it was the other way around, he could never tell. He buried his hands back into the sand and closed his eyes while Joly rubbed his back. 

‘Will water help?’ Musichetta asked worried, holding the cup near him so he could still smell the aura coming out of it. He shook his head slowly and pressed another wave back into the earth. He tried to give his friends a better answer to their unspoken questions but he could hardly keep his concentration to himself as it was. 

‘Let’s just burry you deeper,’ Joly suggested. 

Taking a deep breath, Grantaire nodded. ‘Yeah, let’s do that. But outside.’ Musichetta left his side and he could hear her talking to the visitors without registering what they were saying. All he could feel was the pressure Joly was applying to his skin. 

-:- 

To say it had been a strange night would be an understatement too great for words when Enjolras watched Bahorel and the woman who introduced herself as Musichetta half dragged Grantaire out of his house. His feet were not supposed to leave the ground but he was also very clearly not capable of standing on his own legs. He had not opened his eyes in a while and didn’t even do so when he lowered himself into the man shaped hole they had dug him and let himself be covered in sand. The man whose name he had forgotten made sure his head was still free. 

‘How long does this normally take?’ Enjolras asked when they were done and all of them were staring at the tracker who seemed completely relaxed and at ease now. Possibly asleep. 

‘Normally?’ Eponine said horrified. ‘Is this normal?’ 

Musichetta smiled. ‘Normal enough. It always happens at full moon anyway, just not so often outside of that cycle. But while we’re waiting, let’s go to our place and see if Bossuet has returned yet with something mortals are actually allowed to eat.’ 

-:- 

The forest seemed less dark and scary when they were walking in the other direction. The house they soon saw looked just as small but light and cheerful. It was close to the small village but far enough to have a lot of space around it. The door was open and they could hear someone singing inside. 

Musichetta, Joly and Bossuet lived in perfect harmony with each other and their strange neighbour and weren’t bothered at all by their three unexpected guests. They all sat down at the large table that was soon filled with all sorts of food and for the first time since he entered trackers house, Enjolras realized his hungry and thirsty the night had made him. Strangely enough, he wasn’t that tired. Bahorel, who had stayed silent almost all night, was chatting with the three new strangers they had met as if he had known them for ages and even Eponine seemed at ease. There was something about them that lighted the room, even more so now they had come out of a dark one. 

It was nearly noon and they were sitting outside in the sun when a lonely figure made his way towards the house. Out in the light he could see the ropes he had thought to be black were actually rather colourful, but they were all dark and intense looking shades. Seemingly, the night had left no mark on Grantaire when he let himself fall down in one of the chairs. ‘I have good news and bad news,’ he said, accepting a cup of tea from Bossuet. ‘Bad news, I didn’t find her. I found her traces but they’ve been covered and there’s no way for me to know where she went to. Although I’m rather sure she’s alive.’ 

‘Good news?’ Bossuet asked. 

‘It’s a good reason to go visit Jehan!’


	2. Part 2, The Fields

Apparently trackers don’t track on their own so instead of just Grantaire, they brought all four of them back to their camp. If all had gone well, this whole side quest had just been a three days trip that would have left them with a clear direction and no extra mouths to feed. Now it took them five days to get back because even though Grantaire was able to find his way perfectly well he couldn’t be bothered to hurry or keep walking. Every so often he would stop for something useless and to make it worse he seemed to have no stamina whatsoever. It left them with a slow pace and lots of breaks. His three friends were not surprised by his behaviour at all and patiently waited for him to check out a rock or sniff a flower. Eponine and Bahorel both seemed too entertained by it all to be bothered and took it as some sort of holiday. At night, Grantaire often wandered off into the dark and one time Enjolras could swear he saw him dancing in the shades of the shadow. 

After two days, Enjolras had a difficult time to keep his annoyance at bay. He wanted to get back to his people, not used to being this far away from them for this long. 

‘Grantaire, darling, come here for a second?’ Musichetta said when once again they stopped. She looked over at Enjolras and winked at him before turning her attention towards her friend who suspiciously made his way over. She reached out her hand, just like the way Grantaire had done to him when they had first arrived at his house. 

‘Do we have to?’ Grantaire sighed. ‘It’s exhausting.’ 

‘Enjolras, I’m sure you have a cart or something at your camp? Or a horse Grantaire can ride?’ 

‘He’s not going to be able to track and walk,’ Bossuet softly told him laughing. ‘It’d take ages.’ 

Enjolras nodded. ‘We do, and there’s room for passengers. But that’s of no use to us now.’ 

Musichetta ignored that last remark and hold up her hand again. Grantaire sighed and closed his eyes, breathing in deep before taking her hand. Seemingly, nothing happened. But when Grantaire opened his eyes a moment later, his eyes were white. ‘Now we can pick up the pace,’ she said pleased. 

For the first hour, Grantaire seemed in trance and had to be guided by both Musichetta and Joly. It freaked him out but Enjolras was also pleased they were finally putting the forest behind them and walking briskly over the fields. When a bit of colour returned to his eyes, they were ever the slightest shade of pink now, Grantaire responded to the world around him again and though he still kept silent, he wasn’t ghosting any more. 

Evening fall and when they stopped to set up camp for the night, Grantaire collapsed. Musichetta sat down with him and hold him in her arms like a small child. 

‘I’m scared to ask,’ Eponine said softly. ‘But what is she doing to him?’ 

Joly looked up, apparently surprised by the question. ‘Chetta? Not much, really. She’s just… putting some of her magic into him, I think?’ He looked over at Bossuet, who just shrugged. 

‘It doesn’t seem like he enjoys it,’ Eponine remarked. 

‘It doesn’t hurt him,’ was all Joly had to say about it. 

That night, Grantaire slept. 

-:- 

The next day went the same way and soon they picked up the tracks of their friends, following their slow pace across the lands. At the end of the afternoon they arrived. Their camp was simple and efficient. There were three carts and five horses. Enjolras realized that if Grantaire was right and they had to cross water, that could become a problem. But for now it was a luxury they rather enjoyed. Courfeyrac was the first to see them and alerted the others of their return. Of course, their guests were a sight to see and brought out almost all of their people. When Enjolras introduced them he noticed Grantaire had pulled up his hood and was standing behind his friends, using them as some sort of shield. During the evening he didn’t mingle either, letting the talking be done by his friends. Enjolras lost track of him after dinner but the next morning Grantaire showed up to his side out of nowhere when he was just repacking his bag. 

‘I assume you’ll need me for directions.’ 

‘You assumed right. Are you up for it?’ 

‘As long as I don’t have to walk. There’s only one thing we haven’t talked about.’ Grantaire sat down next to Enjolras in the grass and looked at him with bright blue eyes that reflected the sky. Enjolras nodded for him to continue. ‘I’m willing to do this for you, but there’s rules and there’s risks.’ 

‘Alright. Shouldn’t we have talked about this before we left?’ 

Grantaire ignored that remark and went on. ‘If I tell you to do something, you don’t hesitate or ask but you follow orders, alright? The others will follow you, but I need you to trust me that when I tell you something it’s important that it’s done the exact way I request.’ 

That was a wild and possibly dangerous decision to make. It was a risk. Enjolras nodded but Grantaire shook his head even before he could open his mouth to respond. 

‘I don’t trust you. You’re no good at following orders.’ 

‘Well, to be honest, if I was I wouldn’t be here.’ 

Picking up a small stick, Grantaire poked the earth and then peeled it open further with his fingers. Enjolras stayed silent and watched him, half expecting something strange and magical to happen again. But after a moment he realized it was nothing more than a nervous tick. ‘Maybe it’ll get better with time,’ he finally decided and apparently that was a good conclusion to his thoughts because he looked back up to Enjolras. ‘Secondly, don’t leave Chetta, Bos or Joly.’ 

‘Of course we won’t,’ Enjolras said instantly and now the man smiled. 

‘That I believe. Good, that’s good. I think that’s all for now. Oh, and tell your noisy friend to stop asking questions.’ And with that, Grantaire was gone again. 

-:- 

As far as directions went, Grantaire told them to keep on going and went to sleep in the cart. His friends didn’t question it and kept on going. Enjolras friends however did question this strange being and his weird friends. It took some convincing before they agreed to give it a shot and follow his lead. The day went by quietly and so did the night. While the tracker stayed on his own, either by sleeping or walking away from the camp, Musichetta and her two man slowly won over the hearts of the group members. First of all Courfeyrac, but the others followed soon. It made it easier for Enjolras to have them follow Grantaire’s vague lead again the next day. When he saw the man awake and looking out over the fields that afternoon, Enjolras got into the cart with him. Grantaire didn’t react to his presence and for the sake of it he just assumed that was a good thing. 

‘Not to question your skills,’ he started. ‘But do you have any idea at all where you’re leading us?’ 

‘Yes. Do you know where you’re leading your people?’ 

It didn’t sound like an insult at first, but when Enjolras thought about it a bit longer it really was. ‘I know what I’m doing, if that’s what you’re asking.’ 

‘I wasn’t, but good to know.’ A grin appeared on his face while his eyes were still on the horizon. ‘And I know what I’m doing too, if that’s what you were asking.’ 

Enjolras let out a short laugh and made himself a bit more comfortable, why not enjoy the ride while he’s at it. ‘Alright, I trust you. For now. Is there anything you can tell me about the road? How long will it take to find your friend?’ 

‘Jehan is not my friend. If he’s anything, he’s Bossuets friend. And I don’t know because I don’t know where he is yet.’ 

Enjolras stared at him. ‘You just said-‘ 

‘Yes, I know how to find him,’ Grantaire stopped him. ‘We’ll arrive at the city in three days and I can tell you more when we’re standing in front of it. We have to follow this road and look out for the big rocks at the end of it, that’s all you need to know.’ 

He had to bite his lip to not ask another question because something in his voice made it really clear this conversation was over. He had not requested to be left alone though, so Enjolras stayed with him while he tried to figure out what city he could be referring to. Grantaire sat next to him, almost completely motionless with his eyes zoned out until he suddenly decided to get up and jump out of the car. 

‘I’ll catch up tonight, keep going.’ 

And with that he walked into the field. Enjolras looked as he walked away. Both of them weren’t traveling very fast so he could still see him after several minutes. He looked up when someone took the place where Grantaire had just been sitting. 

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Joly told him. 

‘I’m not worried.’ 

‘Good, neither am I.’ 

‘Where is he going?’ 

Joly shrugged and took an apple out of his pocket, taking a bite of it before answering. ‘Who knows, probably off to do some weird magician stuff. Or he’s just trying to look cool, we can never tell. But it doesn’t bother anyone, so it doesn’t matter.’ 

Questioning his decision to get the four of them involved, Enjolras sighed. ‘Do you really think he can do this?’ he wanted to know. 

‘If he says so.’ Joly smiled reassuring at him. ‘As far as I know, he’s never failed. When something is too difficult for him, he always knows what to do or who to find to make it possible.’ 

‘How long have you known him?’ Enjolras asked curious. 

‘Six years now. He was a bit of a mess when I found him, but with Musichetta and later Bossuet things got better. We protect him and we help him, that’s what we do. Just like you would do for your friends.’ 

Enjolras looked at him for a moment and nodded. He would do that for his friends, any of them. In fact, he was. 

-:- 

Just as said, in three days there was a city to be seen. They had been following a river for over half a day and slowly more people had showed up on the road that was hardened and wider now. Grantaire was standing on the back of a horse with his arms wide and his eyes closed and Enjolras tried to smile and nod to the people they passed in an attempt to look normal. They did not look normal. 

‘We have to stop here,’ Grantaire said out of nowhere and jumped off. 

‘Why?’ Courfeyrac asked. ‘We’re almost there now.’ Grantaire looked at him as if he had asked a really stupid question. 

‘You cannot just enter a city, we have to look for the stones first.’ 

‘What stones? You’re not making any sense, man.’ 

‘Those.’ They all looked up at Bossuet who pointed towards the other side of the river. On a hilltop there seemed to be an old watch tower. Not much but a collection of stones was left of it now. Grantaire looked over at Courfeyrac as if to say ‘’I told you so’’. 

Enjolras walked towards the river and stared at the hill. ‘We cannot take the whole group there.’ 

‘Only you, me and Bossuet have to go,’ Grantaire said. ‘Can you swim?’ 

-:- 

Luckily they could and after some preparations the three of them stripped off their clothes and while holding their belongings above their heads carefully made their way across the river. From the other side Enjolras greeted Combeferre, who gave a nod to inform him they would be alright. Enjolras believed him because he had no other choice. Together with a humming Bossuet he followed Grantaire. At least this time he seemed to know where he was going and how to get there. Although the hill had looked rather far away it surprised him how easily they reached it. It was enough time for the weather, that had been kind to them so far, to slowly change into something that gave the lands a bleak look and gave too much room for shadows to appear. It didn’t seem to bother Grantaire, so it didn’t bother Bossuet either and they started climbing towards the stones. All the way to the top nobody said anything and apart from the wind in his ears there was nothing to hear. 

In contrary to Enjolras, Bossuet seemed to know what he was supposed to be doing when they reached their destination and Grantaire took place on the remainders of a wall, facing the town underneath them. He bound a small piece of fabric around Grantaire’s head, covering his eyes. Then they waited. For the first few minutes, both of them stood by his side, keeping all senses open, ready to whatever was supposed to happen. But when nothing did, their guard dropped. After half an hour of hanging around they prepared themselves a small meal. The whole time Grantaire sat completely motionless, facing the city without being able to see it. It started to rain a little but since there was nowhere to hide they just waited. When the sun began to set, Enjolras and Bossuet looked up at the same time without knowing what made them do it. 

‘Finally,’ he heard Grantaire mutter as the tracker got up and stretched his limbs. ‘He’s rather pissed, but it’ll pass. He has a whole night to calm down anyway. Bossuet?’ 

Bossuet got up and walked over, reaching out his hand. Grantaire looked deep into his eyes and as his form appeared to drain the remaining sunlight his eyes seemed to glow. 

‘That’s it?’ Enjolras said surprised when they let go of each other again a moment later. ‘No weird magical stuff? No patterns, no fainting.’ 

‘I didn’t faint,’ Grantaire chuckled. ‘But yes, this was it. Not all magic is difficult and painful, it’s easy to talk with Jehan. Just like I’m talking with you now.’ 

‘Then why did it take so long?’ 

‘He just refused to come to his door.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just weird and I'm rather enjoying it. Hope you liked it too!


	3. Part 3, The City

Night had fallen and without a clear light source getting down would be foolish. Finding cover as best as they could, they spend their night huddled together with their backs against one of the old walls. Enjolras woke up with the weight of somebody leaning against him and an earthy smell coming out of black hair. It was surprisingly comfortable and despite all odds he felt rested. Looking aside he saw Grantaire still asleep. Curled up like that he looked even smaller than he already was but his face was peaceful and quiet. He felt sorry to softly shake him awake. 

‘We should get going,’ he said soft when Grantaire looked at him. The only response he got was a slow nod. Bossuet was already up and had parted their remaining food in three portions. Logically, Enjolras started to make his way the direction from which they had come but Grantaire stopped him. 

‘We can take the bridge now, the others will be waiting there.’ 

‘There is a bridge?’ 

‘Yeah, of course there is, but it’s near the city.’

Enjolras just shrugged and decided to just accept these things for now. So far things had been strange but nothing harmful had happened. If this Jehan proved himself to be of help Grantaire might prove himself to be trustworthy. It took them all morning to get back down and find the bridge. In the middle of the day it was busy, a lot of people were going in and out of the city gates. Grantaire seemed to be bothered by the crowd around them and started walking slower, clumsily trying not to bump into anyone. He didn’t do a very good job and Bossuet grabbed him by the arm to help him through. At the other end of the bridge they found their wagons and friends again, just as promised by Grantaire. Musichetta took over Bossuets job and hold Grantaire’s hand while they walked through the gates. 

Inside the party split and was send off to do a few different things. More out of curiosity than necessary Enjolras stayed with the group that would go and get the mysterious Jehan. 

-:-

They made their way smoothly past the market that was now going in full glory, what showed Enjolras that Bossuet knew more about the place then he had let on. This time, Grantaire looked clueless when it came to directions and all of them followed Bossuet. Soon they entered a more quiet part of town and after a few more turns they entered a district that looked poorer and smelled worse than the one they had just left. Children were running around the streets in ragged clothing, the houses looked as if a light breeze would make them collapse and about every possible corner was used by somebody to build an improvised sort of shelter. Enjolras could feel his feet sink into the dirt but he couldn’t keep his eyes away from the miserable people he saw around him. Just because he had seen worse didn’t mean these people didn’t deserve better. They deserved a lot better but there was nothing he could do for them now. This was a long term plan. Still, the streets reminded him of his end goal. 

If Bossuet hadn’t stopped, Enjolras would surely have missed the black door. Even when it was pointed out to him, he still had to blink three times before he could really focus on it. 

‘Protection,’ Musichetta explained smiling when she saw him looking difficult at the wood. 

‘You mean the door was invisible?’ 

She laughed and shook her head. ‘Not really. It was just made to not catch your attention. Like… the opposite of a wild coloured dress.’ 

Enjolras nodded even though he hardly understood what she meant. It was somewhat a relieve to see Eponine shaking her head in disbelieve as well. The four of them stood around the front of the three stories high building while Grantaire stood hesitating in front of the door. He reached out his hand but didn’t knock. After a moment he turned back around to face them. 

‘I don’t think this is going to turn out well.’ 

‘How do you mean?’ Enjolras said, stepping forward. ‘We came all the way here, and now you’re having second thoughts?’ 

Grantaire shook his head. ‘That’s not what I mean. It’s just that… Jehan and I, we have a bit of an explosive relationship.’ 

For some reason Bossuet started giggling at that. ‘Let me talk to Feuilly first,’ he suggested and Grantaire nodded. He moved out of the way so Bossuet could walk up to the door and knock. Enjolras watched as Grantaire tied a black bandana around his eyes to blind himself. He frowned but didn’t ask. Eponine looked at him for a moment but followed his example and stayed silent.

It took a minute before the door opened. Enjolras was not one to believe the old tales but it wasn’t because of superstition that the bright red hair of the man who opened froze him. It was the fact that in his years he had never seen a ginger before. They were known to be bad luck and therefor usually met a worse faith than the magic wielders who could serve a purpose to society and were occasionally tolerated. Not accepted, not at all. But if they occasionally proved themselves to be of worth, they were normally left alone. While gingers were still hunted down. 

‘Jehan said you might pop by.’ The man, assumingly Feuilly, grinned wide and stepped outside, hugging Bossuet tight. 

‘Hey man! We did, how are you?’ 

Feuilly laughed and let go, looking around the group. His eyes lingered on Enjolras for a moment before they stopped at Grantaire who was standing a bit to the side now. ‘Better than a certain unwelcome tracker, I assume.’ His voice was pleasant and clear and he sounded amused by the whole situation. Grantaire not so much and just huffed. 

‘He’s not letting me in.’ 

‘He’s complaining that you’re screaming.’ 

‘I’m not screaming! I’m trying to be silent, but it’s not like he’s silent.’ The dark man crossed his arms like an upset child, what looked strange since his eyes were still blinded. 

‘Well, truth be told, you are invading his home, not the other way around,’ Feuilly shrugged grinning. ‘So unless you want to wait out here in the rain for Jehan to figure his shit out, I suggest you let me help you stop screaming.’ 

Enjolras frowned and looked up at the sky. It was a bit clouded but there was no sign of any rain yet. Apparently Grantaire seemed to be thinking the same thing. ‘It’s not going to rain.’ 

Musichetta placed her arm around his shoulders and softly squeezed. ‘Darling, you’re a tracker, we trust you with a lot of things but not weather forecasts.’ 

-:-

The next few moments went by in a blur. Grantaire poured the contents of a small flask into his mouth and finished it in one go before he started swearing in a language Enjolras didn’t even recognize. But that moment also didn’t take long as he suddenly went limp and was caught by a waiting Musichetta. She carried him inside behind a happily chatting Feuilly and Bossuet. Still standing outside, Enjolras shared another look with Eponine. 

‘I don’t know what you make of this-‘ she started saying but was interrupted by the heavens coming down on them. When they reached the door both of them were already soaking wet. 

This house was unlike any Enjolras had ever seen. There were… things everywhere. A lot of the things they passed he didn’t even recognize and most of the plants in mismatching pots he had never seen before. Eponine looked guarded and hold her hand on her small sword as she walked through the hallway towards the door the others had went through. Light was coming out of it and the closer they walked a strange sent made its way into their noses. It was… dust mixed with unfamiliar and strong herbs and colourful smelling flowers. The walls made the laughter of the other people sound somewhat hollow and far more distant than it was supposed to be and for no reason they both stopped walking. Enjolras frowned deep and forced himself to take another step. His hand touched Eponine’s shoulder and together they entered the room. 

As soon as they stepped inside, the hollowness of the situation faded and what he saw was just a happy reunion. In the middle of a worn out carpet stood a not very tall person with long hair that covered most of their back. It was curving and seemed to dance for no apparent reason. Somebody had laid Grantaire on a couch as a discarded toy and because it seemed better than the alternative Enjolras made his way over to him. He seemed peaceful while asleep, smaller and bigger at the same time. Most of all he seemed more real. 

He turned back towards the room and instantly his gaze was caught in deep green and for a moment it blinded him until he was able to look at the stranger he assumed was Jehan. There was something playful in his eyes that meant no good. ‘Isn’t anyone going to introduce me to our new guests?’ In his voice was still the hollowness that made it sound as if he was standing far away while also whispering in his ear. His way of speaking was strange, it went up and down for no apparent reason and it made it difficult to follow the meaning behind his words. 

‘Grantaire would have,’ Musichetta said judgemental. 

Jehan moved his eyes back to her and Enjolras felt he could move again. ‘He did. His name is Enjolras and apparently he shines like the sun. But still, it would have been nice form to be officially introduced.’ He didn’t speak of or even look at Eponine. 

‘I do what?’ Enjolras said with a laugh. ‘Did he really say that?’ 

Looking back over his shoulder their eyes met again. ‘He screamed it.’ 

‘Oh, stop complaining about the screaming,’ Feuilly sighed, taking a seat in one of the comfortable chairs. ‘He’s not screaming now, is he?’ 

Jehan now looked at the couch and the motionless body of the tracker. ‘I think I like him more this way.’ 

‘Well, I don’t, so please start fixing what is broken.’ Bossuet smiled with it. ‘It’s nice to see you haven’t changed.’ 

‘I can’t say the same about you.’ There was pleasantness in his voice that had not been there before. ‘Where is your other friend?’ Everybody moved out of the way when Jehan slowly spread his arms. 

‘Joly is in the city, you’ll see him soon enough.’ 

‘Good, that’s good.’ When he breathed in deep the whole room fall silent. The sound of the rain outside faded and Enjolras own heartbeat started to drum in his ears. He watched as Jehan closed his eyes in concentration and made the room spin with his magic. His hair seemed to rise off his clothes as his hands moved higher. Nobody was able to do anything but stare at him until next to Enjolras Grantaire’s body moved as he took a quick and deep breath. Suddenly the bright light seemed to hide itself in the shadows as Grantaire’s waking presence spread darkness into the room. It was leaking out of him like fog on a field in the early morning and for the first time he saw Jehan shiver, an involuntary movement that didn’t suit the ones he had made so far. A small frown appeared on his face when he drowned himself in concentration. All around the room pots and glasswork started ringing. A humming sound vibrated through the air and started swelling in volume until Enjolras had to place his hands over his ears for they started to hurt. But with one quick movement of Jehans hands everything stopped and it was as if they all landed back in reality when Grantaire opened his eyes.


	4. Part 4, The Clearing

Traveling with Grantaire had been challenging because his alien ways were hard to keep track of and Enjolras had to somehow convince his group to follow the lead of a stranger who’s movements made no sense to anyone. Luckily his companions had made it easy to ask acceptance of the others and translated the behaviour of their friend as good as possible. Enjolras only realised how easy it had been when he had brought Jehan and Feuilly into the group. It was not just their appearance that was different, it was everything about them. And the puzzled looks in their direction only seemed to amuse them. Feuilly was quiet but Enjolras could see he kept a close eye on everybody around him or Jehan. Jehan himself had not given any attention to anyone who approached him and only occasionally seemed to react to Bossuet or Feuilly. The few times Enjolras had tried to talk to him he hadn’t just been ignored, it was as if Jehan denied his existence. Suddenly Grantaire seemed very talkative and friendly. 

‘He just needs time to… get used to things.’ Grantaire looked at him and the flames of the campfire made his eyes a dark shade of blue in the falling night. 

‘Why does he say you’re screaming?’ The last few days Jehan had mentioned it again several times. Loudly. 

Grantaire just shrugged, seemingly unbothered by it. ‘I have a wide presence. Jehan has a short but strong one, and when I enter it his defence mechanism protests. It’s really his fault, but he’s getting better at tuning me down. In a few days I can walk around him unnoticed and we can get started for real.’ 

Even though he hardly understood any of that, Enjolras nodded. ‘And the friends you keep around,’ he started, carefully voicing what he had been wondering for a long time, ‘is that usual for magic users?’ 

‘Not usual, I’d say,’ Grantaire said and shrugged again. ‘But not unheard of either. I think it has something to do with… how much power you hold. Musichetta can do fine on her own, she has for years. She’s more like Combeferre than she is like me or Jehan. Her magic is clear and with purpose, just as his.’ 

‘So how is your magic?’ 

‘More wild, more difficult to keep hold off. That’s why Jehan is taking so long, he build up his area like a house made of tiny stones all placed with great care and now he has to rearrange them. He keeps Feuilly around because they match good. Feuilly is an extraordinary person, you’ll like him I’m sure, and he can keep Jehan in check while Jehan keeps his magic in check. First Bossuet was there too but he’s far more organized now and Bos found something better to do with his days.’ He looked over fondly to where Bossuet, Joly and Musichetta were sitting together, completely relaxed in each other’s company. 

‘Alright,’ Enjolras nodded. ‘But how about you?’ 

Grantaire looked back at him and he noticed the blue in his eyes had gotten lighter as the night got darker. ‘What about me?’ 

‘Why do you need the three of them?’ 

It took a moment before Grantaire answered but Enjolras had learned to wait. ‘Joly found me years ago. I liked the way he made contact, it was easy. People are always difficult.’ The flames of the fire didn’t seem to reach his figure and even though Enjolras was sitting beside him, he was still mostly a silhouette. But his voice was clear and he choose the words he spoke with great care. ‘I guess that the moment you normally learn to interact as a child I spend interacting with my magic. Other people are always unpredictable and difficult but Joly was easy. His presence actually helped, I don’t know why. He’s like… like glasses.’ He laughed softly at his own joke. ‘Normally everything else is blurry but with Joly it’s suddenly clear. But it’s also different from Jehan because Jehan needed Bossuet to get his magic under control while I can let my magic run free as long as Joly or Chetta is around. And because my magic is wide it doesn’t really matter where they are. I always know where they are, they could never hide from me. I could track them across an ocean without any trouble, I could track them when they set off flying into the sky. And as long as they’re in my reach, I can call out if things go bad.’ 

‘Like you did that first night,’ Enjolras understood, remembering how the two of them had suddenly appeared out of the night. 

Grantaire nodded and smiled to himself. He looked at ease and even happy while they sat there together, talking. ‘I have one more question.’ 

‘Go ahead. Although I’m not sure I could answer, I don’t know a lot about magic, I just know me.’ 

‘Why Joly?’ 

Apparently that was another difficult question because again it took a while before he got an answer. ‘I don’t know.’ 

That’s a bit shorter than he had hoped for. ‘You have no idea at all?’ 

Grantaire shook his head and smiled at Enjolras disappointed expression. ‘I just know that some people match well with magic wielders and others don’t. Most people cannot look straight at Jehan, both because he made it that way and because most people don’t match. It’s like they cannot see it. When you’re sensitive for it, you can feel it around you. I always know when I’m close to magic. And people like Joly, Bossuet and Feuilly feel it too and it pulls at them somehow. We need them and they can’t stay away from us. But I don’t have it with Bossuet or Feuilly, just Joly. And…’ Grantaire stopped talking and frowned deep. ‘It’s my turn now. How long have you known Combeferre?’ 

Confused, Enjolras sat up straighter. ‘Almost all my life.’ 

‘Do you feel… drawn to him?’ 

‘I’m not sure I get what you mean.’ 

Grantaire bite his lip in frustration while he seemed to think of another way to say it. ‘I think you, Combeferre and Courfeyrac match too. But there’s no reason for it, Combeferre doesn’t need you and you nor Courf are magical. And it doesn’t make sense because… I think we match too.’ 

Now it was Enjolras turn to be silent. He tried to think of a way to explain that they didn’t, that they were different. But all the reasons and examples he could think of also proved the opposite. He had hardly left Grantaire’s side since the moment he had met. And he was always aware of him being there or not. When he walked away from them the other day… 

‘You were testing it,’ he realized. 

‘I was.’ 

-:-

In the end it was Courfeyrac who picked the spot where they would put up camp. It was close to a forest filled with wild life but just outside it there were fields and a gentle, clean river streaming through it. The flat bit of land was more than big enough for all of them to be comfortable for a few days. It was Grantaire who had guided them to the spot but Courfeyrac was the one Jehan listened to when he was told that this would be the place. It was still early in the afternoon and the sun lit up the river in a bright light that made everything look yellow. 

After taking care of the horses, Enjolras took off his shoes and sat at the side of the river, watching most of his friends inside the water, playing like they were children. It had been a while since he had seen all of them so happy. After getting used to Grantaire and Jehan, it seemed their presence had given them hope. They were traveling with purpose again. He watched as in the middle of it all, Grantaire was making waves that were bigger than his arms were supposed to make. He looked happy and smiled when he saw Enjolras look at him. Enjolras smiled back and waved. He didn’t feel the need to join, he felt happy and content while watching. 

-:-

Enjolras attention was drawn away from the conversation when he could hear Joly calling out for Grantaire at the other side of the camp. He had been trying to listen and participate in the conversation he was having with Combeferre and Courfeyrac, but every few minutes he found his mind wandering for no reason. Courfeyrac’s hair was still damp from his jump in the river and didn’t seem to notice the calls at all. When he looked at Combeferre though, their eyes met. 

‘If you feel like you should go, then go,’ his friend said. 

‘I don’t know what I’m feeling anymore.’ 

Courfeyrac laughed but quickly pulled a serious face again when he saw Combeferre looking at him. He patted Enjolras knee and leaned a bit closer. ‘Don’t worry about it, sun. You will know soon.’ 

To avoid having to come up with a response, Enjolras just left them to find the source of the calling. When he walked around the wagon he saw Grantaire coming out of a tent. He was still wearing the same clothes and seen as how wide they were, they must still be soaking wet. The light of the sun reflected on his damp hair that was falling free over his shoulders. 

‘Just give me one moment.’ Joly stepped out into the grass too. ‘You’re going to get sick and we really can’t use that.’ 

Grantaire didn’t even seem to listen to him and just looked up at the sky, turning around while closely inspecting it. When he walked closer, Enjolras could see he was flexing and unflexing his hands. He didn’t know what to make of that. 

‘What is going on?’ he asked when he had reached them. Joly looked between him and Grantaire for a moment before he decided to answer. 

‘He’s convinced walking around in wet clothes improves your health.’ 

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say because Grantaire made a rude gesture at him before turning around and walking away. Joly huffed and ran after him, taking his arm to get his attention. As soon as he did, the earth shook as if a wave went through it and Joly hastily stepped back, looking shocked and horrified. Grantaire just looked frustrated. 

‘You don’t-‘ He had already opened his mouth to continue, but words didn’t seem to come out. ‘I just- I thought-‘ Grantaire made a frustrated sound and tugged violently at the sleeves of his robe and even bite in it, trying to find his way back to forming a proper sentence. A heavy breeze went through camp. 

‘Take a deep breath,’ Joly advised but Grantaire didn’t react to his words. His eyes met Enjolras and Enjolras felt the need to pull him into his arms and prevent him from having to do whatever it was he was doing. But it wasn’t the right thing. Enjolras frowned and the feeling disappeared. Now he just saw a small magician who was visibly shaking on his legs. 

He nodded to himself and walked towards the woods. When he had reached the trees, he looked over his shoulder. Both Grantaire and Joly were staring at him. ‘Are you coming?’ 

-:-

They walked for what felt like hours. Days even. The sun went dim and then light again as if temporarily replaced by the sun. Birds made their conversations followed with a silence only broken by their footsteps and breathing. They were following a line and going in circles. Enjolras was bigger and his steady steps didn’t wait for Grantaire’s broken legs. He knew Joly kept an eye on him to make sure he was still there but he didn’t wait either. Occasionally he had to run to keep up. Occasionally he was lost until Joly called him. And when his breathing got in the way of his heartbeat, his knees decided it was enough and he sank down. 

But even from the forest ground, Joly and Enjolras kept on walking. ‘Stop,’ he said but realised his voice didn’t carry his word. ‘Stop!’ It should have been thunder, but it was hardly rain. It just sounded desperate and more like a cry than a demand. At least they stopped and turned around. ‘Where are you going?’ He felt a shiver, but it was not in the ground beneath him. He dug his hands in the leaves and tried to feel it but there was nothing. A shadow fall over him and two hands covered his own. He looked up to Enjolras. 

‘Let us help.’ 

Somebody was crying and it was probably him. Everything was spinning when he got up but Joly hold onto him while he helped him take off the different layers of clothing. It didn’t help the shaking and he didn’t like the heavy dress Joly pulled over his head. Enjolras did the buttons while Joly helped with the cape and pulled up his hood for him. When they were done Joly hugged him tight. 

‘My legs are tired,’ Grantaire admitted softly. His knees were complaining and his head felt really heavy. 

Enjolras took his hand and softly squeezed. ‘It’s not far.’ 

Somehow it wasn’t and in the blink of an eye, he was sitting close to the fire in the dark of the night while Enjolras tugged a blanket around his shoulders. It was save and he was small and Enjolras kept his arms around him. ‘I will find her,’ he said soft as he rested his head against Enjolras chest. He could feel the beating of his heart and nothing else. 

‘But for now, just stay here with me.’


	5. Part 5, The Drawing

When he woke up, Grantaire was still asleep curled up around him. Only part of his face peaked out from under his hood from where he was using Enjolras as pillow. He had not imagined sleeping like this would be peaceful. He lied there listening to the sounds outside and didn’t notice Grantaire waking up until he spoke. 

‘The place isn’t right.’ 

His voice was still really soft but the shake it had hold the night before was gone. ‘Do we have to move?’ 

‘No.’ Slowly Grantaire shifted to lie beside him so they could see each other. ‘I can fix it.’ Grantaire yawned and rubbed his eye. ‘The place is good but it’s not right. I think I went too fast.’ 

‘Grantaire? What you’re doing, is it dangerous?’ 

For a long moment Grantaire just looked in his eyes. ‘I’m not sure. I’ve never done it before and I’ve never heard of it before.’ He smiled as if he had thought of something funny. ‘But you’re still here, so it’ll probably work.’ 

By now, Enjolras didn’t even question it and just took his hand in response. ‘Tell me what you need.’ 

-:- 

What followed was one of the most chaotic experiences Enjolras had ever had. They cleared a big patch of land under Grantaire’s instructions and placed stones on different sides of it. Nobody questioned it or complained, not even when Grantaire changed his mind at least every ten minutes about an aspect of the lay out. They all did as told and Enjolras hoped they did because they had grown to trust Grantaire, but deep down he knew they only did because Enjolras followed Grantaire’s lead. His own trust in a stranger was enough for his friends to follow blindly. 

Just as things started to take shape Jehan walked to the middle, where Grantaire was overlooking the work, and started arguing. They were a strange view. Last night Enjolras had discovered Grantaire’s clothing was really heavy and thick, even the blankets he slept under were. Whereas Jehan just seemed to wear wide clothing that went swirling around his slim figure by every small movement he made. They were different in every aspect and it made them incomparable. 

With Jehans meddling they had to start over again. 

-:-

It was long past noon when Grantaire’s instructions started to halter and he was mostly walking around the spot by himself, drawing in the sand or just muttering to himself. Most of the others started wandering off when it appeared they were no longer needed and Enjolras just sat down, waiting for whatever it was that would happen. His mind must have wandered off with the others because he did not notice Grantaire until he sat down next to him. 

‘Can you feel that?’ 

‘Feel what?’ 

Grantaire placed his hands on the ground and smiled, clearly feeling something that he liked. ‘It’s way better now. Can you feel it?’ He took Enjolras hand and placed it next to his. Enjolras frowned and tried to concentrate. He didn’t feel anything until Grantaire put down his other hand as well. It was as if there was a low vibration in the earth underneath them. As if bitten, Enjolras pulled his hand back. 

‘What is that?’ he said, not sure if he felt spooked or excited. 

‘Anticipation. I want to give it a try, but I might need you so I can pick up her tracks.’ 

Enjolras took a moment to look him over. He looked sure of himself, not at all like the shaking and lost man of last night. ‘Whatever you need.’ 

‘Well…’ Grantaire grinned. ‘That’s a big promise. But for now I just need you to come to the middle of the circle with me.’ 

They got up and Grantaire lead them through the small maze of stones and lines to what was apparently the middle. The grass had been dug out so there was just dark sand. At the same time, Jehan stepped into the circle as well. If anything, he looked sceptical. The three of them sat down and Enjolras was really unsure of what to do when Jehan closed his eyes and raised his hands. His hair was lifted up slightly even though there was no breeze. Come to think of it, there was no breeze at all. Or sound, except for a vague and distant vibration. 

His disease must have been showing because Grantaire smiled reassuringly at him and signed him to place his hands in his lap, what he did. Grantaire looked him in the eyes and placed his hands in Enjolras’s. 

As soon as they touched, everything else faced. It was as if he could see all the colours in Grantaire’s eyes at the same time. They were like an exploded rainbow that made it impossible to focus on anything else and without meaning to his thoughts went towards her. In every colour there was something that reminded him of her. Some of it was easy, her blond hair that was caught in the tree they had climbed as children, the pink on her cheeks when she did something she was not supposed to do. But even the things that made no sense at first seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Her smile was like the white on top of waves in the sea and that specific red was exactly like the whispers they had shared in the night. 

And just as sudden as it had started, it was over and he was left staring at his hands. It took a while before he realized that the sounds had returned, and even longer before he recognized some of them as talking. He could not make out the words Grantaire and Jehan spoke, it didn’t sound like a language to him. Not until Jehan saw him looking and coughed to get Grantaire’s attention. ‘This is yours to deal with.’ And with that he got up and left. 

Grantaire turned back towards Enjolras, his eyes were a very pale shade of green and looked a bit unfocussed. But his smile was kind and reassuring. ‘How are you feeling?’ 

‘Strange,’ was the only word for it. Apparently that was a funny answer for Grantaire chuckled. 

‘Well, you did a really good job. I had not expected it to go this well.’ 

‘Did you find her?’ 

Grantaire shook his head and took his hand again, squeezing softly. It was a nice feeling. ‘I found enough to track her properly tomorrow, but I think we should both sleep first.’ 

That sounded like a great idea. ‘Will you need me again?’ 

‘I hope not. Let’s just wait and see, alright? Are you up for it to guide me back to the others, or shall I call out for Joly? I don’t believe I’m completely back yet.’ Grantaire frowned a bit as if trying to focus but it just made the small bit of green in his eyes turn red and then back to green and he shook his head. 

‘I’m not sure what direction we should take,’ Enjolras realized, for some reason not able to look around him. Grantaire laughed at that and closed his eyes. 

‘Then let’s make it Joly’s problem again, he’s having too much fun anyway.’ 

-:-

Because of Grantaire’s good mood that evening everybody assumed the next day would be the day they got a real direction to follow. So when Grantaire and Jehan sat down in their circle and nothing happened, it was rather disappointing. One by one, they left the side line to find something else to do with their day and when it turned noon only Enjolras was still watching the two man sitting opposite each other. He tried to feel the ground again, just as Grantaire had showed him the day before, but there was nothing. All day long they sat in complete silence and didn’t move. They probably would have stayed that way if Feuilly hadn’t decided enough was enough and broke the silence by walking towards them. As soon as he stepped into the circle, Jehan opened his eyes and smiled when he saw his friend. Grantaire took a moment longer to react and his response was to swear and groan loud. Enjolras took that as a sign to follow Feuilly. 

‘Why the fuck would you do that?’ he heard Grantaire call out while he moved his hands through his hair and groaned again. 

‘You’ve been here all day,’ Feuilly shrugged as he helped up Jehan. 

‘For a reason! You can’t just march in.’ 

‘I’m glad you did.’ Jehan placed his arm around Feuilly and they started walking back and Enjolras could hear them talking about food as they walked past him. When he reached Grantaire, he was still curled up around himself. 

‘Hey,’ he said soft and sat down next to him. ‘Are you alright?’ 

The first response he got was just a groan but then Grantaire managed to look up at him. ‘I feel like Feuilly just kicked his way into my head and pushed around everything.’ 

All Enjolras got from that description was that he was probably not so much alright. ‘So… did you find anything?’ 

‘Not yet,’ Grantaire sighed. ‘I’m sorry, it might take a while.’ 

-:-

To be precise, it took four days. Grantaire was either sitting in his circle or sleeping so deep nothing was able to wake him up. They left him alone and Enjolras made sure everybody was occupied enough to not get bored. There were things that needed to be done, there always were, and he was grateful for the work that kept him from waiting and hoping. Jehan wandered around when he wasn’t with Grantaire but he wasn’t much of a bother so they let him be. Also, they were all a bit terrified of him. Less so of Feuilly, who Enjolras grew fond of over the days. 

Around noon on the fourth day, Grantaire suddenly showed up at his side while he was fixing a whole in his favourite shirt. He looked tired but there was a smile around his lips as he sat down. 

‘They took her east.’ He hugged his knees to his chest and tried to hide his wide yawn. 

‘You found her?’ Enjolras said surprised but Grantaire shook his head. 

‘Not really. It’s like a maze, but I know now what path to follow. I just need to figure out where they set sail so we can go there. It’ll be easier to track her across the water if we find the right place.’ 

Enjolras nodded, if he said it was easier he believed it. ‘Thanks for updating me.’ 

‘That’s not really why I’m here.’ There was a pause as Grantaire rubbed his eyes. ‘There are people coming this way. They might take another path and not cross ours, but maybe they will. And I’m afraid that, if I don’t find her now, I have to start all over again somewhere else.’ 

This was at least something Enjolras understood. Magic was not a common practise and not all people were very fond of it. ‘Do you know how far away they are?’ 

‘At least a few hours. Maybe you can ask Jehan to try and push them away.’ Grantaire sighed and rubbed his hair. ‘I don’t know. Can you take care of this? I don’t want to start all over again, I’m tired.’ That last part he said really quiet and Enjolras wanted to place his arms around him. He didn’t. 

‘I’ll take care of it. Why don’t you sleep a bit before you continue?’ He felt strangely guilty for having asked this of him in the first place. 

‘No.’ Grantaire took a deep breath and got back up. ‘We should leave soon anyway, I’ll try and finish this.’ With that, he walked away again. 

-:-

They soon found out Grantaire had been right to warn them and the group was quickly divided into two so that if things went wrong nobody would be caught in the middle of it. They loaded in everything very efficiently as they had done so many times before and the wagons were send further up the road. Enjolras was pacing the field, trying to come up with a brilliant plan. But the problem always was Grantaire was not supposed to move and the approaching group was not supposed to find the circle or disturb what they had so carefully created. 

Combeferre caught his attention by looking at him. ‘It’s the only logical thing.’ 

‘It doesn’t feel right.’ 

‘I know. We will do what we can. Don’t forget we have Jehan.’ 

Forcing himself to take a deep breath, Enjolras nodded. They disappeared into the woods, leaving Grantaire behind on his own. Enjolras looked over his shoulder to his lonely figure in the grass, at least he didn’t seem to notice or mind. 

They found the group easily. Neither them or their horses were silent as they made their way through the trees. Enjolras had worried about Jehans ability to stealthily make his way through a forest, but he had not disappointed at all and he was strangely willingly to follow orders. At least for the moment. When they had sneaked up close enough there was a strange shift in the air as Jehan created a same sort of illusion that had guarded his house and Enjolras realised he now recognized certain types of magic. Knowing it was there made it easier to see past it. 

For over an hour they were able to sneak around unnoticed and push the group off the road to Grantaire but apart from slowing them down it didn’t seem to bother them. They were too certain of the way they were going. So there was nothing else to do but pick the spot of the confrontation. There was no time nor supplies to build up a barricade but they found a good spot where they could make their stand and waited for the horseman to catch up with them. 

Earlier than calculated the sound of hooves approached and more than a dozen of horses made their way to where Enjolras was standing on the open road. He was rather certain they would not have stopped if Jehan hadn’t been standing beside him. Just in time he raised his hands and the horses stopped about twenty meters in front of them. 

‘Who are you to block our road?’ a woman demanded. She looked like a fighter, they all did. They were traveling light and with a clear goal. What troubled Enjolras most was the extra horses they had with them. 

‘My name is Enjolras and I ask you kindly to take another path.’ 

The soft breeze through the trees suddenly got louder and blew Enjolras hair out of his face. It was tender, like a touch. Whatever time you can buy me. It was not his own thought but he hold onto it even when the wind disappeared again and they had to face the horseman alone. 

-:- 

Their task was not to kill, nobody wanted more sleepless nights. So instead they tried to create chaos that they controlled. It was a method that had brought them this far and had never let them down. Create chaos and distractions, leave quickly. So the only thing they had to do differently was not leave quickly. As a group of Wildman they ran in and tried to tug people off their horses. Or make them run, whatever worked. They cut free the extra horses and yelled at them to run past their friends in the hope the others would follow. It worked but it should have worked better. In the middle of all of it, Enjolras found himself opposite the woman who had spoken before. She was not as tall as she had seemed earlier but her form was still impressive and it was clear she was familiar with a fight. She was the one to make the first blow, reaching for him with her sword. Enjolras ducked out of the way and tried to use her momentum against her. She knew better though and moved along with him. Because he had no real weapons he waited for her next blow. As she raised her sword she grinned and before she could reach him, something hit him in the back and he fall to his knees. He still managed to dodge the woman and this time he was able to knock the sword out of her hands. Behind her he saw Jehan fighting off several attackers using just his hands. He looked terrifying, his eyes were bloodshot and angry while his hair was now sticking out to every direction. One of the man was able to catch his wrist and work him to the ground with an easy movement. But before any real harm was done Courfeyrac came running to help him. 

Just as Enjolras pushed off the woman who had attacked him again a vibration went through the ground beneath him. He was still sitting from where they had let him fall and underneath his knees and hand he could feel it clearer than ever. 

‘Pull back!’ he yelled at his friends. ‘Go!’ But before he could get up himself there was another blow from behind that left his head spinning. He opened his eyes one more time to find himself lying face first into the dirt and when he tried to push himself up something hit him hard enough to make his vision go black completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, turns out, I'm not very good at writing fight scenes. 
> 
> Come say hi at https://deargrantaire.tumblr.com/


	6. Part 6, The Camp

When she opened her eyes the world was still dark. Softly she groaned and tried to move but stopped immediately when something pressing on her leg made itself known to her in a rather painful way. She gasped and lied back down, trying to figure out what was wrong. It was only then that she saw the small figure next to her in the grass. 

‘Grantaire?’ Eponine said confused. Her voice was rough and talking made her cough. Her longs didn’t feel right either. The small figure shifted quickly and sat up. 

‘Oh, thank the gods you’re awake.’ He sounded really relieved but when he looked over in her direction she saw the reflection of the moon in his clear white eyes. 

‘What the fuck is going on?’ she demanded even though she hardly sounded as impressive as she would have liked. 

Grantaire moved a bit closer to her and fiddled nervous with his sleeves. ‘I don’t know. I just found you and… nothing really. I think the others are gone but I didn’t really look, I was scared I’d lose you again.’ 

‘Right.’ So of all people in their group, she was left with a blind and useless magician that was too afraid to leave her side. ‘Can you at least help me lift whatever is resting on my legs?’ 

She almost felt sorry for him when Grantaire jumped up by the annoyed sound in her voice and carefully felt for her legs. ‘I think it’s a horse. Did you kill a horse?’ 

‘I hope I did. Can you move it?’ An overwhelming wave of pain went through her body and the dark night got covered in dark spots that left her gasping for breath. When she got back to herself the weight was gone but the pain had stayed. ‘Grantaire?’ 

It took a moment too long before she got an answer from somewhere behind her. ‘I’m here. Are you… Can you move?’ 

‘Do I fucking look like I can move?’ 

‘I don’t know.’ 

‘No, right, you’re blind. That’s just fucking great, R. You’re the only person left and you can’t even see. Can you at least do something about my legs?’ She moved her head to see the shadow of Grantaire moving towards her. His movements were slow and unsteady and he had pulled the hood of his cape up so his face was now hidden in shadows. ‘Use your magic, will you? Don’t just sit there and wait for things to fix itself.’ 

Silence. ‘I’m not Combeferre.’ 

Eponine groaned in frustration and perhaps pain. ‘Can you then at least try and find Combeferre? That’s what you do, right? You find people, you found me, so find the others!’ 

‘I…’ 

‘There have to be other people around still, we can’t be the only ones left here.’ 

‘I think we are.’ 

‘You think? Use your fucking magic! Check the area, do whatever the fuck it is you do. At least-‘ She stopped her tirade when coughing took over the functions of her mouth and lungs. It was really uncomfortable, trying to clear your lungs while lying on your back in the dirt. When it finally stopped she just lie there in silence for a moment with her eyes closed before looking back up. Somewhere unnoticed the small magician had collapsed and was lying in a motionless mess beside her. ‘Grantaire,’ she whispered. ‘I’m sorry I yelled at you.’ It took a lot of her strength, but she stretched out her arm and took his cold hand. Sleeping was probably a bad idea but she didn’t seem to have a say in it when it took her. 

-:-

‘Grantaire.’ Behind his closed eyes there was an annoying light that woke him up even more than the soft voice did and he already longed for the moment where the world would be hidden in darkness again. It was called night and it should be made rule not exception. ‘Grantaire.’ His head was painful and even thinking seemed to hurt. There was this really annoying drum in his chest that reached all the way into his ears. His body shivered without permission and he could feel his hand move slightly. He gasped when a nail dug into it but it still took a moment for him to realize it wasn’t his own nail. ‘Grantaire!’ He rolled his head to the side, hoping his hood would fall back in place to hide him from the sun. Of course it didn’t. When he opened his eyes slightly there was no change except the sunlight increased. There was nothing to see. ‘Are you awake?’ The voice was almost soundless. 

‘Yes. Eponine?’ There was a soft squeeze in his hand as answer. 

‘You need to call for help, R, we need help.’ 

Grantaire nodded and closed his eyes again, trying to get his head to focus. The others couldn’t be far away, he wouldn’t have to reach far, he just needed to collect his magic and send out a message. It was simple but even the slightest attempt, even the smallest touch of his magic made him loose control over his body completely. His muscles seemed to move on their free will and he gasped for breath. He lost contact with Eponine’s hand and when after a moment he was able to curl up around himself he was still shaking and his head seemed to be shattered in fractions. When he remembered Eponine was even there it felt like hours had passed. He could hear her breathing and he reached for her again. After a few minutes, she took his hand again. 

‘I found her,’ he told her soft. 

It was as if she laughed, except the sound was really soft and harsh. ‘Enjolras always said we would see her again. Nobody is supposed to be left behind, not under his watch. But right now, I think we are.’ 

‘I can’t do it, Pony.’ He felt tears rolling down his cheeks. ‘I can’t do it.’ 

‘You can, you have to. You’re the only one who can find her.’ She seemed so sure of herself in that moment. ‘You have to scream.’ 

‘I don’t know who will hear it if I do.’ 

‘It doesn’t matter.’ 

Grantaire nodded and took a breath. He placed his hands in the earth beside him. If his magic couldn’t do the job, pure force would have to do. By any luck, the trees would carry his message for him. And he screamed, using all the power in his body until there was none left. 

-:-

It was a different part but it was the same forest, that much he knew. Or at least that much he hoped when he woke up and only a dim light still fall through the trees. His hands were bound together and when he moved something stopped his left leg. 

‘Are you alright?’ an urgent whispering voice reached his ear. Enjolras took his time to sit up and look around first. They were at the side of a small camp. There were two simple tents and a large fireplace surrounded by strange people who were softly talking to each other. When he saw the horses at the other side of the camp he knew for sure these were the people they had tried to stop. 

‘What happened?’ 

Joly looked at him, relieved he was talking at least. The man was looking rather rough himself, his clothing was torn at several places and he looked nervous, moving uneasily on the cold ground. 

Very unlike Feuilly who was sitting next to him, almost completely motionless while staring at something at the other side of the fire. ‘The plan was insufficient.’ There was no fear in his voice and the look on his face made Enjolras shiver. He was relieved to see they were the only three. Until he started to think what could have happened to his friends who weren’t here. Shaking his head, he decided that wasn’t the way to go and instead he started planning his way out of this situation. 

-:- 

The pain in his head had made him doze off despite his effort to stay focussed and he would probably have blacked out completely if a loud scream had not made him sit up straight in an instant. Next to him Feuilly looked ready to jump, getting as close to the fire as his chains allowed him and he was hissing dangerously. His red hair was puffed out and his eyes were bloodshot while he was staring intensely across the camp. He looked more like a wild creature than the gentle man Enjolras had grown to like. Blinking his eyes a few times against the light from the fire Enjolras followed the source of the sound. A small figure he had not seen before was bound against a tree and currently surrounded by laughing figures. A tremor went through the earth but it was quickly followed by another cry in pain. 

‘Jehan,’ Enjolras realized, tugging at his bondages in half an attempt to get free. Feuilly let out a hiss but didn’t seem to pay attention to anything else but what was happening to his friend. But there was nothing they could do, it had been a long time since Enjolras had felt so powerless. 

-:-

At first it had seemed strange they were not moving the next day, Enjolras would have guessed their guards couldn’t wait to deliver them in a nearby city and collect the coin for turning in some rebels and especially a criminal magic user. Instead they stayed in the thick forest and all day rides came and went. At least they left Jehan alone. 

His fear of their intentions was confirmed when halfway the day somebody brought in a beat up Bossuet. ‘Hey guys,’ he said and grinned despite his bruised face when he was placed next to them. Joly had been nervous and on edge all day now started crying and moved towards him. One of the guards kicked him back as a very clear sign they were not allowed to make contact or talk. Bossuet waited patiently until they were mostly left alone before he brought his news. 

‘Grantaire is on his way,’ he whispered soft. 

Feuilly’s eyes flickered to him for just a moment. ‘What is he planning on doing? He’s useless in a fight.’ 

‘I don’t know, but he’s planning something. He’s with Combeferre, but he’s coming. He found me earlier and he’ll find us again.’ 

Bossuet looked so sure of his friend Enjolras couldn’t voice his thoughts on how stupid it would be for Grantaire to just show up here and stayed silent. Instead he focussed on the news that Combeferre was out there as well. 

-:- 

Apparently showing up was exactly the plan. It was evening again and a meal was prepared above the fire. The smell of it had made Enjolras realize how hungry he was and he took it as a good sign for his own recovery that food sounded appealing to his aching body. Jehan looked like a mess and the longer it took the angrier Feuilly seemed to get. The four of them were watching the group enjoy dinner when suddenly the sounds dulled and the soft breeze disappeared between the trees. Instantly the guards were on their feet and looked around to spot the source of the disruption. 

‘I’ve come to offer an exchange.’ Grantaire’s voice came from the shadows at the edge of the camp, his clothing made it difficult to see him clearly and he seemed hesitant to step into the circle of light. 

‘Who are you?’ a woman demanded. 

‘I think you’re more interested in what I am. One tracker is worth more than four rebels, I’ll turn myself in if you let my friends go.’ It looked as if Grantaire had to force himself to step forward and Enjolras saw his hands were shaking as he pushed down his hood to show his face. 

‘No. Grantaire, go away.’ When Grantaire looked in his direction he saw how white his eyes were as he stared blind in his direction. 

‘It’s alright, Enjolras. In the end, you’re worth more than me.’ 

‘I have to say, this is an interesting proposal.’ The woman who had spoken earlier walked closer to Grantaire and looked him over as if measuring him in gold. ‘But what makes you think I wouldn’t just capture you now, as you so kindly walked into my camp.’ 

Grantaire shrugged. ‘I’m a tracker, I may be blind but I’m sure I can find my way through this forest and around your man without any trouble and too fast for you to catch me. How else do you think I passed your guards on my way here?’ 

The woman seemed to take that in for a moment and then nodded. ‘Even if you are speaking the truth and I would consider this… deal, I believe you have miscalculated yourself. A redhead is worth more than any kind of wielder, there’s no way I’m letting him go.’ 

‘Is it really the money, or is it because you’re terrified of him?’ Next to him, Feuilly laughed softly. He didn’t seem hardly as bothered as Enjolras or the other two by Grantaire’s appearance here. ‘Don’t worry about it, he scares me too. He can stay, if you let the other three go.’ 

For a moment, everything was quiet. ‘Fine. Sit down while we free your friends.’ She signalled two man to slowly walk towards Enjolras and the others while several others started to circle Grantaire. But apart from moving in their direction, the man didn’t seem to have the intention to let them free. They seemed to know Grantaire could never tell what they were doing, only where they were. 

‘Jehan, I’m terribly sorry I’ve asked this much of you.’ Grantaire slowly kneeled down, his hands were shaking as much as his voice was right now. ‘It was never my intention for you to get hurt and I really wish you would forgive me.’ He closed his eyes and then he smiled. A moment later the earth started to shiver as the space around Grantaire seemed to stretch itself. The people moving in on him took a step back while Grantaire started walking forward. There was shouting but the only sound Enjolras heard was Feuilly who was swearing and laughing at the same time before he started yelling at them to lie down and take cover, but Enjolras couldn’t take his eyes of Grantaire. The tracker moved forward with purpose and nobody seemed to be able to get close to him. He recognized the sort of magic from the day he had been in Jehans house. As soon as he had identified it it was easier for him to look past it and see the direction Grantaire was going. Jehan reached out his hand just as a strange woman fall down in between Enjolras and Feuilly and made a quick gesture with her arm. 

She tucked him down as a wall appeared over him and his friends. The world seemed to freeze before a second later it exploded.


	7. Part 7, The Way Out

‘We have to go, there are more.’ The woman was the first to pull herself back together and using nothing more than a stone she destroyed the ropes and shackles. Enjolras freed himself of the stones that had fall onto him as the wall had collapsed after taking the damage of the explosion and keeping them save and he jumped up. Several trees had fallen down and everybody exposed had been pushed out of the camp by force, most of them slamming into trees and unmoving so far. In the middle of the destruction sat Grantaire with Jehan in his arms. He wasn’t the first to reach them though, Combeferre rushed out of the forest and took Jehan from him, quickly examining him. 

‘Are you alright?’ Enjolras demanded, holding Grantaire by his shoulders as he kneeled in front of him. The tracker was shivering over whole his body now and had his eyes closed while tears were coming out of them like small rivers. He wiped them off his cheeks and noticed that mixed in the water there was blood. Grantaire managed to nod before Enjolras hugged him tight. ‘You idiot,’ he said soft, holding in his own tears. 

‘Enjolras!’ He looked up and saw Courfeyrac running towards him. He let go of Grantaire to catch his friend in his arms. ‘Are you alright? Did you see that explosion? I didn’t think it would be so intense when Grantaire told us!’ His friend laughed excited as he looked around the remaining of the camp.  
‘We have to go, now!’ The strange woman got up after freeing Joly last and Enjolras took a moment to look at her. She was wearing a strange dress that seemed to blend with the forest, together with her light hair. Her appearance was slender and almost unnatural. But before he could figure out what was so strange about her everybody started to rush to get away quickly. Jehan was placed on an improvised stretcher somebody had brought and following Grantaire’s lead they moved into the forest once more. 

-:- 

They followed Grantaire’s directions blindly, making strange turns and not following a clear path. After asking for information Courfeyrac just informed him that everybody was alright and they were waiting for them to catch up. The pace they held was rather fast and Enjolras found it difficult to keep up. Those of them who were not injured helped carry the still unconscious Jehan as Combeferre tried to heal him while walking. Grantaire was the only one who occasionally talked while he gave directions. He also kept them updated on the amount of people who were chasing them. At first there were just two and they were far behind, but they were catching up on them and their numbers had grown to six. Enjolras could hear the tension in his voice grow and he forced his legs to catch up with him. Grantaire had pulled his hood up again and was holding onto Feuilly arm to guide him while he guided them all. 

‘We need to go to the river, we can lose them in the river.’ Enjolras wasn’t sure if Grantaire was addressing him or just talking in general but it felt like he would say more soon so he stayed silent. ‘Floreal can help us, when we’re at the river. But we need to keep going.’ He seemed to have a difficult time to breath between sentences. ‘We have to follow the stream down, they have not been there yet. I think… They’ll give up, if we can…’ 

‘Easy,’ Feuilly said soft. ‘Just concentrate on walking.’ 

Grantaire nodded and did, staying silent now. Enjolras wished he could do more, but all he was able to was catch Grantaire every time he tripped over something on the forest ground. In between him and Feuilly they managed not to lose time because of the blind man. Reaching the river was both a relieve and a new struggle. It was waist high at its deepest point and it would not have been a trouble at all, hadn’t they all been exhausted already. Feuilly forced them all to walk through the water so it would cover their tracks but it had only been a few minutes when Grantaire tripped again and they had to wait a moment for Combeferre to heal up his feet and knee. Ignoring his own exhaustion Enjolras made sure to keep a better hold on him after that. It seemed to help enough to get them through the river. They picked a stone beach to cross it for real so they wouldn’t leave tracks in sand or grass and the woman, Floreal, stayed behind while they once again walked through a forest. Grantaire was shaking over his whole body and the next time his feet hit something unexpected there was no reaction to catch himself. Instead his knees seemed to give out and he fall in a hump on the ground. His breathing came quick as he tried to push himself back up. 

‘It’s not far now,’ Enjolras promised him softly, taking him by the arms. Grantaire nodded and by pure willpower he got on his feet again. He was walking slower, but he was still walking. Enjolras let him lean heavily on his shoulders while telling himself the same thing he had told Grantaire. They managed to walk for a few more minutes before Grantaire sank to the ground again. There was no apparent reason for him to do so except that his legs refused to function any longer. Even sitting seemed to cost him a lot of strength. Combeferre kneeled down next to them and placed a hand on his forehead. 

‘I’m sorry,’ Grantaire said hardly audibly under his heavy breathing. 

‘You did great,’ Combeferre promised him. ‘We can manage it from here, you did all you could.’ 

-:- 

The last part of their flight was very slow because next to Jehan they now also had to carry Grantaire, who kept blinking in and out of consciousness. Enjolras stayed close to him and helped the best he could but he couldn’t have been more relieved when they caught up with the wagons. Jehan was placed next to Eponine so Combeferre could keep an eye on both while Grantaire was delivered to Musichetta. Enjolras sat in the car with her and watched as she started taking off his damp clothes. Grantaire protested softly against the movement of the car and the hands on him but there was not a lot he could manage. She yelled to stop when he started throwing up and she let him catch his breath in an unmoving world, despite the protests around her. Enjolras respected her more for that and it seemed to help Grantaire calm down a little. She helped him put the bandage around his eyes and used all the blankets and clothes she could find to make him a comfortable spot to lie down. It didn’t take much convincing to make Enjolras lie with him and he let Grantaire place his cold hands under his shirt while Musichetta tucked them both in. Curled up together, Enjolras could feel how badly Grantaire was shaking and how cold he was. But they were save and Enjolras trusted everyone in his group to keep them save and despite the painful movement of the car, he fall asleep. 

-:-

It was the soft tugging on his shirt more than the light that woke him and he opened his eyes. They were still moving but things seemed to have slowed down and he could hear somebody singing outside. 

‘Enjolras.’ He looked to his side to see Grantaire was still tucked up with him. He was looking pale and his voice sounded weak but the fact that he was awake already calmed him. His eyes were still hidden under a bandage. 

‘Hey, how are you?’ 

‘I found her.’ His heart skipped a beat and all he could do was stare. Luckily there was no way Grantaire could see that right now. He found her. He was going to see her again. ‘I… I thought you should know…’ 

‘We’re going to bring her back.’ Enjolras nodded to himself, even more determined now than before. We’re coming for you, he thought and a smile appeared on his face. 

-:- 

It was only an hour later when he woke up again, this time because he was starving. Grantaire was asleep and only occasionally shivered so that was probably progress. Slowly he sat up and noticed that his head was no longer throbbing in pain, only a headache remained. He tugged Grantaire in with great care before he got out of the car. They had stopped on a small hill that had a nice view of the valley they were driving through and above a fire a meal had been prepared. Now he was standing outside the smell of it was nearly overwhelming. 

‘Good to see you’re awake.’ Combeferre smiled and waved him over. He was a bit unsteady on his feet but apart from that he seemed fine as he made his way towards his friend. They handed him a small bowl of soup, what was kind of disappointing. Specially because Combeferre forced him to wait ten minutes before he could have another one. 

‘How is everybody doing?’ he asked once he had finished that one as well and he was able to think more clearly. 

‘Minor injuries, most of us are fine. Eponine is already complaining and you seem to be doing better as well.’ 

‘Jehan?’ 

Combeferre looked around to the wagon that hold Jehan. Feuilly was sitting and eating at the edge of it, keeping an eye both on the group and on his friend. ‘It’s a bit worrying, if I’m honest. I can’t figure out what… caused the explosion. Grantaire told me it’s just two different kinds of magic forced together, but that doesn’t explain why he hasn’t woken up yet. I would ask Grantaire but I’d rather let him sleep some more.’ 

‘Ferre… He found her.’ 

Smiling, Combeferre squeezed his shoulder. ‘I know, Eponine said he had told her so. It may not be going the way we had wanted to, but we’ll get there.’ 

‘I can hardly believe we have a real lead to follow.’ Enjolras laughed softly, shaking his head. It still seemed surreal. Combeferre placed his arm around him and let Enjolras lean against him a little. It was nice. 

-:- 

Despite his protest, Enjolras was forced to ride the wagon the remaining of the day. He softly chatted with Joly who kept jumping in to check on Grantaire and with Courfeyrac who was driving right now. Every time Grantaire woke up, he would reach for his hand and Enjolras would stroke his hair until he fall asleep again. The day went by slowly and to create some more distance they even drove a few more hours after dinner. But by then the horses really needed to rest and so did most of the people. 

Not wanting to move or leave Grantaire, Enjolras simply lied down with him again for the night. At first that seemed okay, Grantaire just curled up around him and went back to sleep. But at some point in the night he woke up because Grantaire was shivering again and where their skin touched, it felt like he was setting Enjolras on fire. He quickly sat up and left the wagon to look for help. Luckily Feuilly was still keeping watch and saw his distress even before Enjolras could explain himself and he ran to hopefully find Combeferre. 

‘Why didn’t he wake me up?’ Joly said distressed when he nearly jumped on Enjolras in his haste to reach Grantaire. ‘Last time he got sick he woke me easily enough.’ 

‘I hardly feel his presence,’ Enjolras thought. 

Joly nodded concerned, stroking some wet curls out of his face. ‘He’s exhausted his magic.’ 

When Combeferre joined them he send Feuilly to get fresh water and started removing the blankets off Grantaire, who immediately started moving uneasily and whispering things in a strange language. He tried to wake him up but he didn’t seem to respond. To examine him better, Combeferre removed the bandage from his eyes. The fabric was sticking to his skin with sweat and tears but when Combeferre hold it to the light of the fire, there were also clear signs of blood. Carefully he lifted his eyelids, revealing bright red lines walking over his white eyes. Grantaire groaned in pain and tried to push Combeferre’s hand off. A shiver went through him but he stopped his protest when Combeferre obeyed his request. 

‘We need to cool him down.’ Combeferre looked at Joly, who nodded and helped them move Grantaire out of the wagon and placed him on the cold ground. With hardly any clothes on and no blankets, his breathing slowly got more unsteady and his body started moving unwillingly. 

‘This may sound weird, but it’s really helpful. Trust me,’ Joly said, taking position behind Grantaire’s head and placing his hands on his shoulders. ‘Take his hips and press down really hard,’ he instructed Enjolras, telling him where to place his hands before he got on his knees and put all his weight and strength in Grantaire’s shoulders, pinning him to the ground. Grantaire moaned in pain and tried to break free but Joly didn’t give in. ‘A few bruises won’t kill him and weight steadies him,’ Joly ensured Enjolras, who hesitantly did the same. Feuilly looked as if it were the most normal thing he had ever seen when he returned with the water and he helped Combeferre wash the sweat of his restless body. 

First the movement stopped as his body slowly relaxed under their strong hands. He was still shivering but that also seemed to slow down. His breathing got deeper and steadier and Combeferre sighed in relieve. 

‘Joly, I’m tired.’ His voice was nothing more than a whisper but it still made all of them smile. 

‘I know,’ Joly said, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek while not letting go of his shoulders. ‘You can sleep if you want to.’ 

‘Don’t burry me, I’m just tired.’ 

‘Alright.’ 

‘We should let him drink a bit.’ Combeferre got up and returned with a glass. Carefully they let him sit up a bit and Joly helped him to take a few sips while sitting behind him and letting him rest against his chest. ‘Does anyone know when the last time is that he eat?’ 

Joly looked at Enjolras, who shrugged a bit helpless. ‘He hardly eat during his ritual, but I figured we would make him catch up on food afterwards.’ 

‘So at least a few days,’ Combeferre concluded. ‘Somebody should sit up with him to keep an eye on him, make him drink some more when he wakes.’ 

They let him sleep outside, tucked in tight in a thin blanket and keeping a close eye on his temperature. They ended up all keeping close by while at least one of them was awake. By the morning his fever seemed to have dropped but in the light of the sun they could now clearly see the dried up blood around his eyes. He mumbled softly as they carefully cleaned it and while it was clear that it hurt him he let them do it without much protest. 

-:-

Despite his bad health, they still felt too uneasy to stay at the same spot so they had to move. Grantaire protested as loudly as he could manage against the moving wagon, what luckily wasn’t very loud and he wore himself out within a minute. The day started out sunny but even before noon it started to rain. Enjolras didn’t care much for the rain but it seemed to ease Grantaire’s breathing a bit, even more when they helped him put on one of the heavy dresses to protect him from the cold wind that had picked up as well. Enjolras stayed with him all day, as did Joly. Keeping his eyes closed at all time, it was difficult to tell when he was awake and when he wasn’t but there were small signs they learned to keep track of. Apparently he was able to catch enough rest despite the shaking wagon because in the evening he seemed to be doing a bit better. He helped Enjolras as he washed away the dried blood around his eyes again. 

‘I can still see lights,’ he said soft when he and Enjolras sat close together near the fire. ‘So, that probably means my sight will come back, right?’ 

Enjolras hummed soft as he rinsed out the cloth before handing it back to Grantaire. ‘Has this happened before?’ 

‘Yeah, but… this is worse.’ 

‘It probably just needs time to heal.’ He tried to sound sure of himself to ease Grantaire’s mind but he frowned concerned while he watched the magician carefully and with slow movements wipe away blood that had come out of his eyes. If it had been anyone else he would have known for sure something terrible was the matter but his time with Grantaire had learned him that you just never knew and he tried to stay as hopeful as he could. He had apparently recovered from the fever so why should his eyes not do the same? Nevertheless, it was a distressing sight. 

Perhaps it was because he was occupied with watching Grantaire but Enjolras only noticed the new person in their camp when Feuilly suddenly started yelling. Clearly Grantaire hadn’t noticed her either because he reached for Enjolras in shock. 

‘Don’t you dare come near him!’ 

‘Because clearly you’re doing a great job looking after him.’ Floreal sounded mostly amused while looking at the furious redhead in front of her. 

‘I don’t want you close to him.’ 

‘Feuilly.’ Grantaire spoke soft but both Feuilly and Floreal turned to him the moment he opened his mouth. ‘She might be able to help.’ 

Floreal looked at him bemused and made her way towards them. When he had seen her first her slender build had made him believe she was tall but now she was standing in front of them he realized she was actually rather small and through her thick hair the tips of her pointy ears poked out. ‘What a sight to behold, it’s a shame you can’t see your own pitiful state.’ 

‘You belong to the Unseen,’ Enjolras realized, both shocked and impressed. ‘You helped us before.’ Her people were not known for their kindness towards strangers, they mostly existed in stories to be told during cold nights and in half of them they were pictured as creatures without mercy who only thought of their own good. 

‘I was very persuasive.’ Grantaire chuckled soft and coughed because of it. 

‘I respect strong magic when I hear it,’ Floreal explained. She sounded more serious now and kneeled down next to them. ‘There’s nothing I could do for you.’ 

Grantaire nodded. ‘You’d help me by helping Jehan.’ 

She bowed her head and got back up and walked to the tent. Feuilly stood in the opening what forced her to moved past him so they were only a few centimeters apart. Watching her every move, Feuilly followed her inside. 

The silence that followed was heavy and softly Grantaire sighed. He handed the cloth back to Enjolras and carefully lied down again, using Enjolras legs as pillow. Softly he stroke his hair as he finished the job for him. ‘Do you trust her?’ he whispered. 

‘No. They’re unpredictable but Jehan… The Unseen have helped me before, they seem to like me. Feuilly could take her though, don’t worry.’ 

Enjolras hummed and kept stroking his hair till his breathing became deep and steady again. It took nearly an hour before Floreal left the tent and walked back to Grantaire. She kneeled next to him and carefully touched his forhead. Grantaire gasped but didn’t wake up, he actually seemed to drift off in a deeper sleep and it was as if his head became heavier on Enjolras lap. ‘When he wakes up, so will Jehan.’ 

‘And when will that be?’ 

‘Soon,’ was all she had to say about it before she got up and disappeared into the woods again.


	8. Part 8, The Port

‘Grantaire.’ 

It was raining again and the wind was trying to get a hold of the tent but Enjolras was rather confident it would hold for the night. He wasn’t really sure if speaking his name was necessary to call him but it surely wouldn’t hurt and it gave him more of a feeling he was actually doing something instead of just trying to push thoughts into the sky. As always, the tracker took his time to actually arrive. 

‘It’s early.’ Together with Grantaire a gust of wind and rain entered the tent and Enjolras quickly got up to close the entrance behind him. Taking him softly by his shoulders he placed Grantaire in the middle of the tent where is dripping clothes wouldn’t cause too much harm and went to get the dry clothing he had already gathered while Grantaire started getting himself out of his wet ones. 

‘One of us is tired and I don’t want you to get cold.’ 

‘I’m not cold. I was with Jehan.’ 

‘How is he?’ Every movement Grantaire made, even the smallest ones, felt like it had a purpose and a plan, what made even the simple act of undressing look like a dance. The fact that he still couldn’t see Enjolras looking at him made him even more unconcerned about how he looked. When he had removed the heavy layers and was just standing in his thin underclothing Enjolras moved in to help him, apparently putting clothes on was more difficult than taking them off. 

‘Complaining, so he’s fine. He doesn’t like rain.’ 

Enjolras chuckled, stroking the folds out of his soft pyjama’s even though that would be meaningless once they lied down. ‘How about you? Do you like the rain?’ 

Frowning slightly, Grantaire tilted his head as if to listen to the world outside their tent and then nodded. ‘Yeah, I do like it. It’s like…’ He bit his lip for a moment, trying to think of the correct word. Enjolras smiled and placed a kiss on his cheek. 

‘Yes, like that.’ 

They both listened to the rain while Enjolras picked up the clothes and Grantaire put on his new socks. Apparently Musichetta was convinced that with the new colder weather Grantaire’s toes were in severe danger of freezing. She still couldn’t convince him to put on shoes but as a compromise she had made him socks that reached over his knees to wear during the night. And after Enjolras threatened his cold feet were not allowed to touch him anymore Grantaire had actually started wearing them. Enjolras was in Musichetta’s debt. 

‘Let me look at your eyes for a moment?’ Enjolras sat down next to him and Grantaire willingly let him move his head to both sides. ‘They look clean. Does it hurt?’ 

‘Just a bit. The rain is nice and cool, but it’s darker so I hardly see anything.’ 

‘Your eyes are darker too, but I doubt that means anything.’ 

‘I never see my own eyes, I don’t know what the colours mean.’ Grantaire pulled back when he had to yawn. ‘Okay, I guess I’m the one who’s tired.’ 

Enjolras chuckled soft and helped him get into the pile of blankets before following him and making them both comfortable. ‘I figured,’ he said as he laid on his back so Grantaire could use his chest as pillow to fall asleep. He made sure they were tugged in good against the cold and the possible rain that could come in while Grantaire curled up around him. He could feel the socks against his legs and was yet again grateful for Musichetta and her brilliant ideas. In his head he could feel that Grantaire was fighting against his desire to fall asleep directly so they could chat and enjoy their closeness but all Enjolras had to do was softly stroke his hair and Grantaire went out like a candle. 

-:-

Grantaire’s knuckles had turned white and Enjolras slowly had to peel them off the edge of the wagon when they had stopped in front of the inn. The port city was not as big as the one where they had found Jehan, but not being able to see anything more than lights and shadows clearly made Grantaire more uncomfortable than the last time they had been surrounded by people. A few meters away he could see Joly keeping an eye on them while he unloaded some belongings from one of the other wagons. 

‘I can’t hear the sea yet,’ Grantaire commented, not very willing to climb off. 

‘Why, did you think we would be staying at the beach?’ Enjolras chuckled, tugging at his arm as an encouragement to move. 

Shrugging, Grantaire really carefully moved closer to the edge and let Enjolras guide him to where to place his feet to get off easily. Once on the ground he let himself sink to his knees to feel the ground beneath them. The street was not too bad but most of the stones that were placed to make a road were covered in dirt and what else, made worse by the rain from the last few days. At least they would have a warm and dry place to stay tonight, because Grantaire had definitely ruined his last pieces of dry clothing by kneeling down like this. Knowing better than to ask or move him along, Enjolras waited patiently for whatever it was that Grantaire did. 

‘This is good,’ he said nodding, mostly talking to himself while moving his hands over the ground before he got up and used his coat to dry off his hands as best he could manage. He took a step forward but then seemed to remember he couldn’t see where he was going and reached in the direction of Enjolras. 

He stepped closer and placed an arm around Grantaire’s shoulders and guided him into the inn.

-:-

When he came back later that evening, he found Grantaire sitting at exactly the same spot as where he had left him several hours ago. He had his eyes closed but seemed more to be concentrating on something rather than sleeping. 

‘Have you not moved at all?’ Enjolras wondered as he closed the door to their small room behind him. 

‘I have. Joly came by.’ 

‘Do you really not wish to come downstairs? All the others are drinking there and I’m sure they’d love you to be there too.’ 

‘I know, Joly told me.’ 

Enjolras sighed and shrugged, putting down the bag he had carried upstairs. Even the curtain before the small window was closed to lock as much as the city out as possible. For the first time it occurred to him that their connection would most likely not last longer than their search would. Grantaire had no reason to keep him around, he already had Joly and his two partners to help him. And even if he did, he could hardly picture himself living in his dark excuse for a house in the middle of absolutely nowhere, Enjolras needed to be around people and had always imagined living his life in a city. For him, today had been a great day even though he felt rather tired of it now. 

When he looked back at the spot on the floor, he found Grantaire’s grey eyes looking up at him, even though he would most likely hardly make out his shape. ‘Come and sit with me.’ 

‘On the ground?’ 

‘Yes. It’s dry and not cold like the earth we’re used to and wood is very friendly.’ From downstairs they could hear people laughing and Grantaire smiled fondly. ‘I think Jehan has started reciting poetry.’ 

Enjolras took the two steps necessary to reach his end of the room and sat down beside him with his back against the wall, giving his hand to Grantaire so he could fiddle with it. 

‘What are you going to do with your people?’ 

It was such a direct and strange question that it took Enjolras slightly off guard. ‘My people?’ 

‘You cannot lead them across the ocean. I can only take those we will be needing. Combeferre and Courfeyrac of course, they will not leave your side and they are both useful in their own way. Eponine and Bahorel, we can use them. I’d like to take Feuilly too, but that depends on Jehan.’ 

Enjolras hand stiffened and Grantaire stilled his slow movements at that, shrinking a bit. ‘I am not leaving my friends behind,’ he said aghast. ‘I’m sure you made your plans, but the decision is theirs and not ours. And what of your friends? Are you going to drag them across the sea, will they be useful to your means?’ 

‘You promised me you won’t leave them behind,’ Grantaire said soft, still holding on to his hand. 

‘And I promised my friends the same thing.’ 

‘It’s a risk.’ 

‘I can explain that to them and they can make up their own mind. If they with, they can stay here and wait for our return, but I will not send them away.’ 

Grantaire refused to answer, staring at their hands with his blind eyes. Another crowded laugh was heard from their friends but this time Grantaire did not stir. For a moment Enjolras wondered if he had been listening at all. ‘No.’ Grantaire let go of his hand and it dropped down for he had not expected this. ‘They cannot come. This is my decision. I cannot take them, I will not be responsible for their crossing or that what she has waiting for us.’ 

‘I don’t accept this.’ 

‘You will need me to find her, you still need me. You do not take orders and they will follow your lead anywhere. But you need me to find where you are going. You’re drifting, Enjolras. You have no idea what you’re doing or where you’re heading, you only know where you’re running from.’ 

Enjolras got up, staring at him in anger. Even though he could not see it, he knew the magician could feel it steaming off of him. ‘You don’t know me.’ With that, he left the room. 

-:-

Enjolras wasn’t used to things not going as he had planned. He spend most of the night pacing the inn trying to think of what to do, but it was as if Grantaire was watching and waiting inside of his head. He probably was. So to enjoy some privacy he left the inn and walked around the port city. The more distance he put between them, the easier it became to view things from his own perspective. 

When he came back, it became clear it wasn’t his decision to make. 

It was still morning but late enough for everybody to be awake and downstairs when he walked into the inn. In the middle of the crowd Courfeyrac was having a fit of anger directed to Joly, who was looking furious as well but kept quiet. When Enjolras walked closer he could see it was not actually Joly he was trying to address, but Grantaire who was hiding behind him. He had his arms held tight around himself and was desperately trying to ignore the world around him. 

‘What is going on?’ Enjolras demanded. As soon as they noticed them, his friends made space for him to walk to the middle of the room and Courfeyrac turned to him. 

‘Your new best friend here was just informing us only five of us can continue from here on out. Only five! A ship has more room than that, he’s just trying to get rid of us, that’s it. How does it even cross his mind that we will separate so easily? While he insists on bringing all his friends along of course, apparently they are worth more than we are. I told you, Enjolras, powerful magicians like him are not to be trusted, they will always choose their own kind above anything else.’ 

The room started to vibrate and a soft hissing sound was heard. ‘You take that back.’ Everybody turned to look at Feuilly, who had taken a step forward from where he had been listening in the back. His eyes were dangerous and as red as his hair and reminded them again how there were more powerful people in this group. Next to him, Jehans hair had started to flow and he was slowly raising his hand to Courfeyrac. 

‘Oh, stop that.’ Musichetta snapped her fingers a few times and Feuilly shook his head, getting himself out the trance like state he had been in and his form returned to normal. ‘This is no way of discussion, you are all adults so start behaving like one. You’re forgetting we all have the same goal, to find the girl. Now all we have to do is find the best way to do it.’ 

‘Well, not by leaving all our people behind!’ With that, Courfeyrac had started the discussion for real and soon everybody was yelling as loud as they could just to be heard. Enjolras tried to follow what was said around him but more than a few phrases he could not catch. 

‘Make them stop.’ The words were as clearly as if it was said right next to him in the middle of a quiet night. He looked up and met Joly’s eyes. They were filled with judgement and Enjolras swallowed. 

Calming them down could prove to be a task. Besides, he still didn’t know who’s side he was on. He climbed on top of a table and made eye contact with Bahorel, who gave a nod before he slammed his hand hard against the wood. ‘Listen!’ Enjolras bid them when they were startled by the sound and the volume of their argument was low enough for a moment to be heard by him. ‘We will sort this out, together, like always.’ He waited a moment for everybody to truly be silent and he made a point of looking around the room. All his friends, his beautiful and wonderful friends. He was already missing them. ‘We have been through many things together,’ he started. ‘Faced many fires, made though decisions. But we always did it like we did everything, as a union of friends. You are all my family and I would cross the world if any of you were in need of help. There are more things that bind us together than there are reasons for us to fight, remember that.’ He made eye contact with Courfeyrac, who still looked angry but had crossed his arms and was listening right now. That was a good sign. ‘Someone very dear to me is still missing and a few years ago we set out to find her. We decided to stay together and I thank you for that with all my heart, for it has made this quest so much easier knowing that you are beside me. I could not wish for better friends. But it seems we have come to a point where a new decision has to be made. We have made new friends, outcasts just like ourselves, and they have joined to help us selflessly. There is nothing for them in this journey except our friendship, and with the very first thing that causes a disagreement you let them fall like stones in a dried lake!’ He kept his eyes trained on Courfeyrac when he let a silence fall to emphasize his words and felt satisfaction when his friend refused to look him in the eyes. ‘Still, I understand your dislike over the situation, of course I would prefer it if we could all stay together. That is why I reacted poorly as well when Grantaire informed me not all of us could cross the ocean together last night. I refused to listen to his explanation for the idea of an involuntary split broke my heart and that is why I spend the morning walking around the city and taking my time to think about it. But the only conclusion I’ve come to is that I should have given Grantaire time to explain himself. So I propose that is what we will do now and we will decide on how to proceed together, like we always have.’ 

There were some agreeing sounds and Enjolras saw several heads nod as his words reached them and he breathed relieved. At least his words had reached their goal. He got off the table and walked to where Grantaire was still hiding behind Joly. He had his eyes closed and was mumbling silently to himself. 

‘Grantaire?’ he asked soft and as if hit by lightning the tracker opened his eyes and jumped back. There were shadows lingering in his eyes as he realised he could not go unseen in the middle of a crowd of people who were all looking at him. 

‘There’s a ship,’ he busted out. ‘Not far from here. Their captain is a Windwalker and they’ll be willing to take us.’ 

Enjolras had only heard of Windwalkers a few times in stories and had always believed them to be the product of fairy tales rather than actual people walking the earth. And apparently so had most others because the mention of a mythical creature surely broke the room into whispers. But after meeting Floreal Enjolras had to reassess certain things he thought he knew. 

‘How do you know?’ he asked Grantaire. 

Joly snorted at that question. ‘He knows, alright? Don’t ask for an explanation of magic.’ 

‘Their ship is small but fast, they cannot take everyone.’ 

‘Is there another option? Did you even look for another ship or were you so sure we would follow you blindly on board of a strangers boat that there was no need for it?’ Courfeyrac had walked closer while he spoke, still sounding angry even though he wasn’t yelling anymore. 

When Courfeyrac addressed him again, Grantaire fall to his knees and raised his arms as if to protect himself and for the first time Enjolras realised Grantaire might not be scared of the words of their argument but of whatever else might flow out of it. 

A hand stopped Courfeyrac from walking forward, together with a simple raised eyebrow from Feuilly and that was enough to stop him and let his anger float away. 

Joly kneeled down in front of Grantaire and softly spoke to him. ‘Hey, R, it’s alright. It’s fine, I promise. Breath.’ Grantaire lowered his hands and took a shaky breath. Joly leaned forward and let Grantaire whisper in his ear before he nodded and got to his feet again. ‘My friend says this ship is what we need to make the crossing. Remember that when we hit land, that will be foreign land for all of us and definitely not without danger. It will be saver to stay here, a smaller group will be easier to protect and keep save over there. But if you insist, he is willing to try and find another solution, although I fear in his current state that might take longer than will be comfortable.’ 

‘Or we could try and find a ship ourselves,’ somebody offered. 

‘A normal ship will ask for more money than we can provide them even if we sold all our belongings,’ Combeferre chipped in, having done the calculations days ago. ‘Besides, they might not take so friendly to our… mixed group.’ Feuilly chuckled soft at that. ‘So the real question is, are we willing to wait?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter did not go where I thought it would go at all! But apparently a fight needed to happen before they could set sail, sometimes a story has no respect for the authority of the writer. I like it better this way anyway ;) 
> 
> This story is absurd and doesn’t really have anything to do with Les Mis (except that Enj had a real proper speech in this one, how about that) so I’m really happy so many people read it anyway! I think for me it combines two of my favourite things in the world, the Amis and Dungeons and Dragons. :) Thank you all for reading and making me feel less weird for liking this!


	9. Part 9, The Ship

Grantaire was already shivering violently before they had reached the water. The wind took good use of the empty beach they were at and the cold air caught hold of their clothing. 

‘I won’t get any colder than I already am,’ Grantaire said in an attempt to calm Joly who had been fussing all the way to the beach. 

‘You’re going to get sick again, and if you’re sick at the start of a sea journey, it will be even more dangerous. We will run out of fresh food too quick and you’re already of poor health, and a ship will not have the proper supplies to keep you alive if-‘ 

‘It won’t come to that.’ Musichetta stopped him from worrying by pulling Joly into her arms and cuddling him lovingly. ‘That doesn’t mean I like this plan, R.’ 

Grantaire nodded and looked over at Enjolras, who then noticed he had been chewing on his lip. ‘You don’t have to do this.’ 

‘I do. I’m not even sure I can track a ship I have never seen without any magic users on board, but I’m positive I can’t do it from shore. Water and earth…’ He shook his head. ‘This is the only way I can do it, and it’s only a bit cold, it’s not even freezing.’ 

They had talked it over several times and even though it was a long shot, they had agreed Grantaire shout at least give it a try. After that they had talked even longer about how they could keep him as warm as possible while doing it. But now they were at the beach, Enjolras wasn’t so sure about their plan anymore. 

He could almost feel the sting of cold when Grantaire started walking into the sea. Step by step, his legs disappeared under the surface. They had chosen a calm spot but even the small waves seemed terribly big, causing Grantaire to get much wetter than was necessary. He kept walking until his hands reached the water as well. For a moment, they all stood still as they waited. They watched as Grantaire slowly spread his arms, making a motion in the water. For almost a minute, nothing happened. But then the wind suddenly stopped dead in its track before it started blowing the other direction with a lot more force than it had before and Grantaire sank down, disappearing under the surface. 

-:-

The moment it had taken to reach him, carry him out of the water and reach the fire Eponine and Feuilly had built in the meantime seemed to take ages. Enjolras nearly had to run to keep up with Bahorels big steps as he carried a violently shaking and seemingly unconscious Grantaire to the fire. He was supposed to stay on shore and keep dry, but in his moment of panic he had walked into the water and gotten his shoes wet. Walking in wet and cold shoes was still nothing to complain about when he saw how soaked Grantaire was. 

Once they reached the warmth of the fire in the sheltered spot they moved quick to get him out of the thin, wet dress while Combeferre examined him frowning. His friend hardly ever showed worry when it came to treating patients and Enjolras tried to take comfort out of the fact that he was remaining calm. 

Grantaire opened his eyes when Combeferre placed his hand on his chest, steadying his breathing. Strangely enough, his eyes were deep green and contained more colour than they had in weeks. He opened his mouth to say something, but his teeth were just clattering together. 

Next to the fire, Feuilly had taken off his pants and his shirt and Enjolras helped Combeferre move Grantaire to sit against his chest. He had offered to do it himself but had admitted that Feuilly would be a better option for he could not get cold. Feuilly just seemed amused by all of it and had not minded the idea to get practically naked on a cold beach to let his skin warm his friend. Once he had Grantaire save in his arms, Joly started packing them with blankets that had been warmed by the fire while Combeferre kept his hand on Grantaire’s chest. Once he was sure it would do no harm, he nodded at Musichetta. The woman then placed her hands on Grantaire’s head and let him fall asleep. He looked more peaceful that way. 

Except for Bahorel, who was still changing into warm clothes himself, they all watched Grantaire and waited for the shaking to become less violent. Feuilly had a good hold of him and Combeferre had his eyes closed in concentration. He kept using his magic until he took over the shivering. When he removed his hand Grantaire moved uneasy but his breathing remained steady and Enjolras found himself sighing relieved. Only when Joly pulled the blanket up over Grantaire’s head did Enjolras remember to take off his shoes and warm his feet. 

They remained at the fire for over an hour, listening to Feuilly and Bahorel talk and laugh like old friends while Grantaire slept. Combeferre check up on him regularly but seemed pleased at his recovery from the cold and Feuilly kept a close eye on him as well. 

Enjolras couldn’t say he listened to the conversation, his mind was otherwise occupied. 

After an hour, Grantaire stirred and Feuilly carefully shifted the blankets so Grantaire could look outside. He whispered something inaudibly that made Feuilly laugh. ‘He said I’m surprisingly soft,’ he shared with the rest of them, making them all smile. Joly helped Grantaire drink some kind of tea, but after a few sips he just started falling asleep again. 

 

-:- 

 

They spend all day at the fire, waiting for Grantaire to recover by drinking tea and sleeping against Feuilly’s chest. Bahorel decided to follow his example and took a nap as well. Feuilly shifted positions a few times but apart from that took it really well and never complained about how long it took. By the time the evening started to show herself, Grantaire was awake enough to answer their questions. 

‘I tried to look for anyone in my reach,’ he explained soft. He still refused to leave Feuilly’s side, but he was able to hold his own cup now. His voice was rough and a slight tremor was still to be heard. ‘I really tried, I tried all I could think off. Until the Windwalker noticed, they pushed me out. I think they’re going to try and find me now, I didn’t mean to catch their attention even more than I already did.’ 

‘So a ship is heading this way, but it’s not the ship we had been hoping for,’ Bahorel summarized for them and Grantaire nodded, looking down as if ashamed. 

‘I can try again tomorrow.’ 

They all started to protest against that and Feuilly hold him even closer as if to protect him from his own ideas. 

‘Let’s see if this Windwalker can find their way here in the first place,’ Musichetta decided. ‘After we get you back to the inn and into bed, we will plan again tomorrow.’ 

-:- 

They did not need to go back to the beach to find the Windwalker. Grantaire had slept all evening and night in between Feuilly and Enjolras and had woken up in the morning with only a slight tremble remaining of the previous day. They were just in the process of eating breakfast when the front door of the inn opened and a dramatic wind flew into the main room. The person who stepped inside was dressed in a long black coat that showed their fine figure by tying it with a belt around their waist. But the big shoes and large hat made them look impressive as well. They stepped inside and stood in the doorway, letting in cold air while looking around the now completely quiet room. The only one still eating or even moving was Grantaire, who had either not noticed or didn’t care. The stranger’s eyes rested on the tracker and took him in before they huffed. 

‘Well, you’re a sorry thing.’ Their voice was rough but strangely pleasant and clear. 

‘I nearly drowned yesterday,’ Grantaire shrugged, indeed not caring for his grand entrance. 

‘That was hardly my fault, you were screaming in my ear.’ 

‘Always the screaming,’ Jehan sighed. ‘He never shuts up, I’m warning you.’ 

The Windwalker let their eyes shift to Jehan and raised an eyebrow while checking him out. ‘As long as he keeps out of the water I doubt it’ll bother me,’ they shrugged. 

Enjolras coughed, effectively chipping in on the conversation between the magicians in the room. ‘I’m sorry, who are you?’ 

‘It’d be more polite to introduce yourself first, golden boy.’ 

‘Polite? You interrupted our breakfast without invitation.’ 

They grinned and finally closed the door behind them. They took off their hat before walking closer, showing long black hair tied back in a braid. Truth be told, they were very handsome. ‘If somebody is able to scream so loud, I just have to check it out. My name is Montparnasse, I steer the fastest ship you can find anywhere.’ 

‘I’m Grantaire. This is Enjolras, Jehan.’ Grantaire pointed at both of them with his spoon before getting back to the business of slowly eating his soup. 

‘And him?’ Montparnasse turned around to look at Feuilly, who then got up and walked slowly in their direction. They stood opposite each other as if to check out each other’s strength until they both grinned wide and Feuilly grabbed their hand strongly. 

‘I’m Feuilly, pleasure.’ 

‘Always a pleasure to meet one of your kind.’ Montparnasse made a short bow to show their respect. 

In the back of the room, Bahorel sneezed. 

-:- 

‘I don’t know how maps work.’ 

The three of them were still sitting at the table, being tasked to figure out what direction to follow. 

Montparnasse stared at Grantaire for a moment in disbelieve, but Grantaire simply shrugged. ‘Why would I need a map? I always know where I’m going.’ 

‘But not when you’re on the water.’ Montparnasse sighed. ‘And here I was looking forward to traveling with a real tracker, and now it turns out you can’t even give directions. How do you even know for sure where she is if your magic can’t cross water?’ 

‘I went underneath the water,’ Grantaire explained. ‘It took a while but it worked. She’s right there.’ He pointed over Enjolras shoulder and he had to resist the urge to look around. Still, there was a strange comfort in knowing she was somewhere behind him and that Grantaire seemed to know her location at all time. 

Montparnasse was shaking their head in disbelieve. ‘Magicians will always be weird to me.’ 

‘Aren’t you some sort of magician?’ Enjolras wondered, feeling like he should at least have some understanding of what a Windwalker was before getting on board with one. 

‘Not even close,’ Montparnasse chuckled. ‘I’m more like Feuilly if anything.’ 

‘I don’t believe I understand.’ 

Grantaire pulled his knees up to his chest and made himself more comfortable in the chair before he answered. ‘The difference is, my parents were no magic users, but Mont’s parents were Windwalkers.’ 

‘That’s why there’s so few of us left,’ Montparnasse explained calmly. ‘It is human nature to kill anything foreign, and if you kill a lot of Windwalkers, Redheads or Unseen, there will be less children so they will become more rare. While magic users are born randomly all over the world, so killing them won’t stop them from being born. Reds and Unseen are the most vulnerable for they can’t hide in plain sight, while for normal people Grantaire and I will appear to be normal too. The Unseen have gone into hiding to protect themselves, and Redheads really don’t need anything except themselves for protection.’ 

‘Magic users can live open and free as long as their skills are useful for the community,’ Grantaire moved on. ‘Until something strange or unexpected happens, then they are suddenly the ones to blame and will be chased away or killed.’ 

Enjolras thought about that for a moment. He had met several magicians in his traveling years and a lot of them were honest about their powers. But traveling with Grantaire had proven to him that there were a lot more of them hidden away. ‘You weren’t hidden, we heard rumours about your skills everywhere.’ 

‘And still, it took you several days to find me. There’s a reason I live in the middle of a thick forest. Still, you’re not the first person who has asked my assistance, although yours is the most complicated and interesting cause I have ever had.’ 

‘How did you manage when you were a child?’ Enjolras wondered, almost regretting his question when Grantaire moved a bit uneasy and started fiddling with his sleeve. 

‘Have you ever met a young magic user?’ Montparnasse wondered. 

He thought about that for a moment but shook his head. ‘Except for my friends, I don’t believe I have.’ 

‘Not many parents deal well with having a child with strange and mostly uncontrolled powers. They are either killed, abandoned, taken away or hidden away. I lived with the Unseen, they have a habit of taking in children and looking after them until they’re old enough to control their magic.’ 

Enjolras swallowed. ‘So, your parents…?’ 

‘I walked away when I found out they were plotting to sell me off. I know where they are so I can make sure never to cross their paths again.’ His voice was strangely empty. ‘Unlike you. You don’t know your parents, do you?’ 

‘None of us do,’ Enjolras said but he was sure Grantaire had already figured it all out. 

‘So you could have met them without knowing.’ 

‘I’d rather not know.’


	10. Part 10, The Sea

Enjolras would not have chosen defeat so easily and to spare him that decision, his friends had made it without him. Saying goodbye two days later was one of the hardest things he had ever done. Grantaire was calm and understanding, giving him all the time he needed for he himself wasn’t very much looking forward to boarding the ship as well. 

The two of them were the last to set foot on board and stood by the railing as they sat sail. Enjolras was deep in thought until next to him Grantaire nearly tripped, holding himself up on the railing. ‘Do ships always move this much?’ he asked tense. 

‘It’s hardly moving at all,’ Enjolras chuckled but Grantaire was shaking his head, his eyes wide. 

‘It’s moving in all directions at once.’ 

‘Don’t tell me you suffer from seasickness.’ 

‘I’ve never been on a ship before! I don’t even know what that is!’ 

When he saw Grantaire again an hour later he was curled up around a bucket with Joly next to him and an amused looking Montparnasse looking down on them. 

‘Just look at the horizon,’ Montparnasse chuckled, leaning against the railing and making a wide gesture towards the endless blue that was seen at one side of the ship. 

‘How can I see the horizon when the ships keeps going up and down? You’re a Windwalker, can’t you make it float more steady?’ Grantaire groaned and Joly softly rubbed his back, smiling as well. 

‘There is no such thing as controlling the sea, my friend. Enjolras, please tell me you were able to find your sea legs more swiftly than this very powerful magician over here.’ 

Enjolras smiled and kneeled down to sit at Grantaire’s other side, pushing a few black curls behind his ear. ‘It’s normal,’ he ensured him. ‘And it’ll pass.’ 

‘When?’ Grantaire demanded through gritted teeth. ‘Before or after I throw myself overboard to just get off this cursed boat.’ 

Joly let out a laugh and hugged Grantaire from the side. ‘You’re being dramatic, but that’s fine. Dramatic suits you.’ 

Grantaire just groaned in response. 

-:- 

The rest of the crew on board the ship kept their distance from the visitors. It seemed as if they didn’t like having them on board but respected their captain enough to let them be. The difference between the crew and the passengers was made more clear when Montparnasse offered their office for them to use as they wished, effectively making sure they wouldn’t get too much in the way of the sailors. 

The first few days were spend traveling alongside the shoreline, always in sight of the land. After so many months of walking next to the carts and horses it was a wonderful and fast way to travel and they all enjoyed the time and rest it gave them. 

It only took one full night of feeling sick and not eating for Grantaire to get over the worst of it. It took him a bit longer to really get used to the ship though, hiding in the captains office most of the time. Until Joly decided he had done enough of that and gave him a long and detailed tour of the whole ship. His eyesight had improved but apparently not enough to walk around confident on his own, so they showed him what railings to hold onto and counted the steps. In the end, it turned out Grantaire could find his way better than any of their group after it had gotten dark. 

-:-

Enjolras sat down on the barrel next to the one where Grantaire had been sitting on for over an hour now, just staring out over the sea. As always, the tracker gave no sign he had noticed his arrival. There was no need for a sign, of course he knew. 

‘Are those seagulls?’ Grantaire pointed a bit to their right towards an island they had passed in the distance. 

‘Yes, I think so. Can you see them?’ He himself hadn’t even noticed the small creatures. 

‘I see dots going up and down and all over the place,’ Grantaire explained and he smiled. ‘They look happy.’ 

‘They’re seagulls, I don’t think they understand the concept of happiness.’ 

After that bleak thought they both stayed silent for a moment while Enjolras had the uncomfortable feeling like Grantaire was observing him while looking at the birds. He knew he was in a more grim mood than he should be, given their circumstances and easy life right now, but after enjoying the quiet and rest for over a week now he felt restless and irritated. He also kept on looking at the blue horizon they were now heading into. It gave him a bad feeling, thinking of the ocean they would soon cross. He had no control and he could do nothing but sit and wait. His friends didn’t need him and even Grantaire seemed more than content to just sit here and watch over the water for the weeks to come. 

He made a frustrated sound and shifted on the wood. ‘We don’t even know what we’ll find when we arrive! Even Montparnasse has never been to this particular place before. He can’t tell us how long it will take, we don’t know where we can get on shore, and even if we do we have no idea where to go or what to do. We have no plan, no preparations, no money, nothing.’ 

‘We’ll figure it out when we get there.’ 

‘How?’ Enjolras pressed, frustrated that Grantaire still thought the seagulls more interesting than his distress. ‘You said you have no clue how far we will have to travel when we reach the continent.’ 

Grantaire sighed and turned to face him, taking his hands and looking at him with his bright blue eyes that reflected the water surrounding them. ‘I will know. She’s calling for me, I think it’ll be easy to find her when we arrive. I can’t track her over water, it needs to be on land. Just trust me, and trust her. You don’t need a plan when you’ve got me.’ 

Enjolras moved closer and placed his arms around him, resting his head on Grantaire’s shoulder and letting himself be cuddled. ‘How can you be so calm about this, you hated this ship,’ he muttered betrayed. 

‘It’s so quiet,’ Grantaire sighed happy. ‘I have no idea where we are, or where everyone else is. It’s just… us.’ 

-:- 

Enjolras tried to not get upset at the blue sky. He tried to keep his moodiness to himself and ignore the hopelessness that washed over him every time he looked at the sea. But it had been a weak and there was nothing that indicated they had actually travelled at all. It felt so incredibly slow, watching endless water wash against the ship, even the clouds seemed to move quicker than they did. 

Of course his friends tried to include him in the games they played and the conversations they had, but it couldn’t shake the empty feeling. There was literally nothing to do for him here. Nobody needed him, even Grantaire seemed to manage quit well on his own. 

‘If the water upsets you, come out at night.’ Enjolras looked up from where he had been staring at the nothingness around the ship to see their captain standing next to him. 

‘Why? So I can stare at something black instead of blue?’ 

Montparnasse laughed at him. ‘Does Grantaire know you can read?’ 

Enjolras pressed down his shock in order to deal with this accordingly. ‘Who told you?’ 

‘You did, you clearly had no understanding of maps but still you saw at once what map I had lied in front of you. Hence, you read the title. You should be more careful about this if you want it to go unnoticed.

So it had been his own fault. Combeferre had warned him about it several times before entering the port. ‘Would you be so kind as to keep this to yourself?’ he asked them. 

‘Don’t worry about it, you have my silence.’ 

‘Thank you. I haven’t spoken about it with Grantaire, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know.’ 

Montparnasse nodded, possibly understanding more about magic and therefore their tracker than Enjolras did after spending the last few weeks very close to him. ‘I have something that might interest you. About a year ago we came upon a wealthy ship and I found some books in the cargo. I’ve been meaning to sell them off, they’re quite pricy, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Delicate matter, you see. You need to find the right person to offer them. My advice is that you send your days reading, using the sunlight for that. And if you want to look at our surroundings, come out at night and look at the stars. They’ll give you a better sense of direction than the water will.’ 

Enjolras sighed, already relieved by the idea of having something interesting to do. ‘Thank you, for everything. You’ve been a very generous host.’

‘It is my privilege to host such a magical party on my ship.’ Montparnasse smiled and bowed for him before returning to their duties. 

-:- 

Montparnasse left him with the problem of how to secretly read books, but that got solved when Grantaire signed both Enjolras and Joly to sit on the floor of the captain’s office that evening. It was a bit of an annoyance because the two of them had just started a rather interesting conversation that did not centre around the one thing that bound them: Grantaire. But perhaps that was exactually the reason why Grantaire decided to mingle. 

Enjolras made sure his sigh was heard by Grantaire, even though the magician didn’t react to it, before sitting down with him. Joly didn’t look as bothered and simply accepted Grantaire’s hand, offering his other to Enjolras. Not sure what was going on, Enjolras looked at Grantaire to explain himself but the man had already closed his eyes, seemingly concentrating on something. Enjolras studied the calm expression on his face for a moment, wondering again how he could be so easily distracted one moment and deep in concentration the next. He looked back at Joly, who smiled at him but didn’t answer any of his internal questions about the matter. Still, he took comfort out of the fact that Joly apparently knew what was going on, and he took his hand, finishing the circle when he also took Grantaire’s. 

-:-

He was talking to Joly. It all made perfect sense, it felt like a memory. Except, he was sure this was not his memory and didn’t understand a thing they were saying to each other. They were standing in the forest in front of the strange building that was Grantaire’s house and it was getting dark. 

‘If they’re smart, they wait till morning.’ 

‘Are you sure?’ Joly said hesitating. ‘They sound a bit weird, maybe they’re not smart and march in on you in the middle of the night.’ 

They definitely would. ‘They won’t trust me if you’re here. Just go home, Joly, I can handle this. If it gets dark before you’re home, you’re in more danger than I am.’ 

Joly was frowning in hesitation and worry but after an internal debate, he nodded and turned around. 

From Grantaire’s eyes, Enjolras watched Joly disappear behind the trees. They stood there for a while longer, watching the world go dark around them. Only when the sun had given up completely and left them for that day, did they walk inside. Grantaire’s house was just as he remembered, except this time the carpet was rolled out over the earth floor and the fire was not yet lit. There was glasswork all over the table on one side and several other things were just lying around. Clothes, pots, plants, wood to make a fire. There were two cups on the carpet from where he and Joly had left them earlier. Grantaire walked to the middle of his house and sat down. It was a strange sensation to feel the sand around Grantaire’s hands and he could feel him spreading his awareness through the earth out into the forest. Enjolras did not understand how it worked, even when experiencing it like this. But he could feel how it calmed Grantaire to know exactually what was going on around his house. There were some small animals searching for food. An owl stroke down on a tree nearby. It was very peaceful and beautiful. 

His attention followed the way Joly had walked through the woods as if following a line dragged through the earth. Every step left a glowing print that could be observed. It followed him all the way to his own house where he was sitting comfortable with Musichetta and Bossuet. Joly was fine. 

Next, he focused back on the forest and let himself flow deeper into the earth until the point where things became more abstract, he couldn’t feel the animals any longer, instead there were distant points calling for his attention. Grantaire moved past them with care until he found one that was practically screaming for him, followed by two more silent ones. Enjolras was coming. 

‘I know you’re going to lead me away.’ Grantaire’s voice was strange and very clear, his words echoing through his mind. ‘I will follow you anywhere. But afterwards, I will return here.’ 

-:-

Grantaire was standing in front of his house, his eyes were dark but clear and it was as if the shadows of the setting sun surrounded him. He was worried, but not too much so. Grantaire could handle more than he let on. Still, turning around and walking away felt difficult. 

The path they followed was narrow and hardly more than a trail that went around the trees and parts of the forest that were difficult to walk through. Enjolras had walked it once, but this time he knew it by heart because he followed it daily. The sun was setting quickly and he hurried to get home before the dark set in. Even from a distance, he could see the light his house admitted to her surroundings and it filled him with joy. He nearly ran his last few meters in order to get home faster, longing for the feeling of it. He quickly stepped through the door and closed it behind him. The feeling that came over him was incredible, he could smell fresh bread filled with the sense of the warm fire, the two people he loved most in the world were chatting and laughing and everything was light and perfect. He breathed in deep, lingering in the moment that was given him. Enjolras could feel how Joly tried to stretch that moment the furthest his memory would allow him. When a familiar tug reached him, Joly smiled. ‘I’m home,’ he told Grantaire. 

-:- 

It was longer ago, he was a lot younger than the last time he had been in the room. He had forgotten how much different things looked as a child, everything seemed bigger and more important. The shelfs of books surrounding him were more impressive than the last few years he had lived at the school. 

The high windows gave the room enough light to make out every corner of it, it was a beautiful day outside and it was always more pleasant to work by sunlight than the light of a lamp or fire. He also longed for these days because most of the students would take their work outside, leaving the library empty and quiet. The rugs beneath his socks were worn by the many feet that had walked over them in all the years they had lied here and the heavy smell of dust and books settled into him when he walked further into the room. It was empty, except for one small figure sitting in a windowsill with a laughable large book in her lap. Her fingers stopped following the lines they were reading as she looked up. The sunlight made her yellow hair light up even more and as always, it was as if she was the centre of the universe when she smiled at him. 

‘I will always look after you and keep you save.’


	11. Part 11, The Storm

‘You can read?’ 

Enjolras opened his eyes, feeling strangely light in his head, as if he had just woken up from a deep dream. They were still holding hands, but mostly because Grantaire was squeezing theirs. ‘Joly…’ he tried soft, his voice still a bit distant as if it had lingered in the memory of his house. At least his lack of surprise showed Enjolras that Grantaire had indeed guessed where he had come from. 

‘Please keep your voice down,’ Enjolras said urgently, very aware that the room had gone silent and off the sailors that could walk past the door and hear them. 

‘You can read.’ Joly laughed disbelieving. ‘I don’t… What was that place, Enjolras? Why did you never tell us before, are we too simple minded for you to explain yourself?’ 

‘Of course not!’ Enjolras said upset. ‘It was not my choice to go there, they take in children from a very young age.’ 

‘Take them away from society, from their family to spend their whole childhood studying, growing up to believe themselves better than the rest of the world.’ Joly looked up when Combeferre spoke up. ‘It is never their decision, Joly. It’s an elite and wrong system.’ 

‘Holy shit,’ Joly muttered, looking around the room. ‘You are all students, all of you.’ 

‘Can’t be,’ Bossuet muttered. ‘You’re too young.’ 

‘We left,’ Eponine explained, crossing her arms. ‘We decided we would be better off uneducated and orphaned.’ 

Joly looked back at Enjolras, eyes still big in disbelieve. ‘That girl, you’re looking for her, aren’t you?’ 

Enjolras gave a nod. ‘They took her away when her magic started to show.’ 

Joly shook his head in disbelieve and grabbed Enjolras hand again. 

 

-:- 

They were standing on a square surrounded by stone buildings that indicated this place belonged to an important and rich person. There were signs above the doors but because it was Joly’s memory, Enjolras couldn’t read what they said. Everything was a bit blurry anyway, except for the silent situation in front of them. A tall man in a long coat, definitely a scholar, shouting at a merchant. But instead of words, all he could hear was the ringing of Joly’s panic as he watched his father get thrown onto the stones. 

 

-:- 

A woman in similar clothing looked down upon them from her higher position in front of the class. Enjolras stood in front of her, crossing his arms and staring just as hard at her. 

‘Enjolras,’ Combeferre said from behind him, tugging at his arm but Enjolras refused to give in. 

Everything escalated when Courfeyrac threw the first book at their teacher, hitting her on the head. 

-:- 

They were sitting curled up in a corner of the room while, trying to lock the world out and failing desperately because every step his father set send an angry vibration through the earth, filling him with terror and fear. The man was shouting but the words were lost in his overcrowded mind. He tried to curl up tighter but he could not stop his magic from filling him in on all the details he did not want to notice. 

‘Please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me.’ 

-:- 

The garden was surrounded by high walls that kept the world on one side and the school on the other. Bahorel had figured out years ago how to climb them and lifted Enjolras on top of it. He looked back once, just long enough to see the flames eating away at the building he hated so much. 

-:-

Again it was Joly who broke the connection, tears streaming down his face as he looked at Enjolras. 

‘The whole idea of schools was to help people,’ Enjolras said. ‘But they’re not helping, they’re making things worse.’ 

Joly nodded, not attempting to stop the tears or wipe them away. ‘You’re going to leave us, when you have her back.’ 

Enjolras shook his head, not wanting to voice what he had come to realize weeks ago. He looked back at Grantaire, who was looking at him more serious than he had ever seen him. ‘I need to be around people, but I also want to stay with you. You could come live with me, nothing has to change.’ 

Grantaire shook his head. ‘I cannot live in a city.’ 

‘I’ll help you, we can figure it out.’ When Grantaire shook his head again, Enjolras felt desperate. ‘Jehan can manage, I’m sure you can too.’ 

‘I’m sorry,’ Grantaire said soft before he reached forward and took both his hands. 

-:- 

There were people pushing past him, shouting at him to get out of the way. Everywhere where they touched him his skin burned, filling him with fear of being hurt by it. That sensation alone was enough to fill him with panic and it was impossible to breath. All the people around him were talking, moving, the earth was shaking with it and his ears could not filter out a single voice. Next to all the people in the street there were also objects and a lot of them were being moved around either by more people or animals. The chaos in front of his eyes was impossible to follow, his mind was being pulled in all different directions, his senses picking up on way more information than he could possibly filter. And it was not just in this street, it was in every street around him, every corner, every square, every house. It surrounded him, pressed on him, tearing him apart. 

-:- 

When he woke up, Combeferre was sitting beside him. The room had cleared out, leaving only the two of them and a lot of quiet and space. Enjolras breathed deep. ‘Did I faint?’ he dared ask. 

Combeferre smiled sad. ‘You did. How are you feeling?’ 

‘Tired,’ he said honestly, slowly sitting up. It was very, very quiet. ‘But I’m alright. What happened?’ 

‘Courfeyrac happened. He was very angry at Grantaire for making you pass out like that. And then Joly got angry at Courfeyrac for shouting at Grantaire… It was a mess. In the end Eponine send everybody to different parts of the ship to calm down.’ 

That sounded like Eponine. ‘Where is Grantaire now? And Joly?’ 

‘I’m not sure. I could go check, but you look like you could do with some sleep.’ 

Enjolras shook his head and got up. The ship seemed a bit more unsteady than it had before, but not too much so and it slowly seemed to pass. 

-:- 

Finding Grantaire was more difficult than it had been in ages. It got explained when he found them though. Musichetta had her hand held firm against Grantaire’s forehead, forcing him to stay relatively quiet in her arms. He seemed to be asleep but was moving uneasy while Musichetta tried to sooth him. Opposite them, Joly was still crying. He had his head on Bossuet’s shoulder, who was simply stroking his back. For a moment, Enjolras hesitated on what to do. But there was only one right decision. 

He sat down next to Joly and carefully touched his hand. ‘Joly?’ 

Joly sniffed and sat up, smiling watery at him. ‘Hey. How are you feeling?’ 

‘A bit shaken, but fine. I… are you still upset with me?’ 

Joly took his hand and squeezed soft, using his other hand to wipe the tears off his face. ‘Of course I’m not. It was just a bit of a shock, but I think I understand now.’ He looked him in his eyes, serious now. ‘I’m sorry that all happened to you, you were so young. No wonder most academics are so bitter, growing up without family or love in such a cold place. I’m glad you decided to leave the way you did.’ 

Enjolras sighed relieved. ‘Thank you, Joly. That means a lot. About that other thing… I would never force him to live in a city, he made it quite clear to me that’s not possible. But I’m not sure I could live in a forest, so cut off from everything.’ 

‘That was the whole idea of moving there,’ Bossuet said. ‘Less people, difficult access. So only the people who really need Grantaire would come and find him there.’ 

‘And only when he allows them to find him,’ Enjolras understood. ‘Still… I don’t think I’m made for that kind of life.’ 

‘You won’t force Grantaire to live in a city, and I’m sure he won’t force you to move into his terrible house with him.’ Joly smiled at him. ‘Don’t worry about it yet, we will find a way that works for both of you. Let’s first concentrate on finding your sister.’ 

Enjolras frowned. ‘I never told you she’s my sister.’ 

‘You didn’t need to, she looks just like you.’ 

‘Er, guys?’ Musichetta said slightly alarmed when Grantaire started moving more, softly mumbling. ‘Somebody should probably calm him down.’ 

He shared a quick look with Joly, who nodded at him and together they went to sit with Grantaire. ‘You should probably hold him down,’ Musichetta advised them, carefully lying him on the floor. It only took a second for Grantaire to wake up when Musichetta removed her hand. He tried to sit up, eyes big with panic and his breathing going really fast. 

‘It’s alright, R,’ Joly said, stroking his hair. ‘Everything’s fine, you’re fine. We all love you. Try to focus on your breathing, if you do it slowly there will be more air in your lungs.’ Joly softly continued to talk to him and slowly his violent movements made place for just severe shaking and his breathing evened out as best as he could manage. They helped him up and with one arm around Joly and one around Enjolras they slowly started walking up and down the room while Joly and Bossuet talked about their house and other stupid things that were friendly and nice to listen to, joking around until Grantaire was smiling between sobs. 

-:- 

‘I was just trying to help.’ 

Enjolras hummed and rubbed his face, trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes. Grantaire was still wrapped close around him but had apparently been awake for a while now. ‘I know.’ 

‘Then why does Courfeyrac always shout at me?’ 

‘Well… He’s scared, that’s why. He’s very protective over me and the others.’ 

‘But not over me.’ 

Enjolras placed his arm behind his head so he could look at Grantaire where he was lying on his chest. He would have liked it if he had looked at him while talking, but it seemed as if he wasn’t looking at anything at all. ‘He doesn’t know you that well yet. We all grew up together, he’s like a brother to me. And you’re still a bit new.’ 

‘So… he’s scared of me.’ 

Maybe, and with reason. ‘Just… don’t do that again without letting me know first?’ 

Grantaire frowned and pushed himself up to study Enjolras face. ‘Are you scared of me?’ 

‘I’m not scared of you, but sometimes I’m scared of what you can do,’ Enjolras said honestly. 

Grantaire thought about that for a moment and then nodded. ‘Okay. But please don’t shout at me.’ 

Enjolras smiled and stroke a black curl out of his face, something that seemed to confuse Grantaire even more than the conversation. ‘I won’t. If I do, you can scare me with your magic so I’ll stop.’ 

‘Are you sure about that?’ Grantaire said, trying to be serious but ruining it by giggling, what gave Enjolras a reason to place his arms around him and cuddle him close. 

‘I’m sure about it, R,’ he promised. 

-:-

‘Jehan, please, either tell us what is going on or sit down before you fall,’ Feuilly sighed, looking up from the card game he was playing with Bahorel. The weather had shifted and it had been raining all day, locking them all up inside together. It had been cosy at first but Jehan had gotten restless nearly half an hour ago. 

‘I don’t know what is wrong, but there’s something,’ Jehan said again. He stopped walking and turned to where Grantaire was curled up against the wall. ‘R?’ 

Grantaire only shrugged. ‘It feels like up is down.’ 

‘Yeah… No, that’s not at all what I mean!’ Jehan huffed frustrated and went back to his pacing. 

‘Are you still sick, dear?’ Musichetta looked at their tracker with pity but Grantaire gave her a brave smile. 

‘It’s not too bad. It’s probably stupid to hope that Mont was wrong about this whole storm business, right?’ 

‘Since they are a Windwalker and their whole existence is centred around wind and storms, I’d say that is stupid,’ Feuilly nodded grinning. 

‘Grantaire,’ Jehan said pressing. 

‘I can’t help you,’ Grantaire said, shaking his head. ‘I can’t see anything.’ 

A gust of wind hit the door and made the wood protest softly. Outside they could hear Montparnasse’s voice over the storm yelling orders. Enjolras sighed annoy when once again his candle got blown out and he closed his book, he had not really been paying attention for a few minutes anyway. When he looked up, he saw Jehan had stopped walking and was standing in the middle of the room. It was as if the few small light sources in the room were drawn towards him, together with his floating hair it made him look more like a spectre than a human. ‘Grantaire, get over here.’ 

Grantaire opened his mouth again to protest but stopped when Feuilly raised an eyebrow. Slowly, he got up, holding onto the wall to steady himself. Jehan had already closed his eyes in concentration. 

‘This is a stupid idea,’ he muttered before stepping forward into the open space, trying to brace himself against the rocking of the ship. He moved his feet as if trying to dig them into the wood beneath them before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. 

At first, everything went silent, the sounds of the wind and rain locked out of their room and concentration weighing heavily on all inside of it. The dripping of a small leak that was filling a bucket with water was the last thing to be heard outside of their breathing, but then also that disappeared as Jehan raised his hands. Grantaire had a deep frown on his forehead while he stood completely motionless. A few heartbeats long it was as if they were frozen in time. Then all at once, the sounds came crashing back in and killed all the lights. Just a fraction before they went out, Feuilly reached forward in reflex and caught the last shimmering heat of them, like rats escaping a sinking ship they darted out of their casings and jumped right into his fist. Everyone stared at his closed hand that was now radiating with contained light. A wicked grin spread over Feuilly’s face before he moved his hand down and let go. Just as fast as they had left, the lights moved back and filled the room once again. 

‘Something is wrong,’ Bossuet realized, jumping up at the same time as Enjolras did. 

‘Eponine. Follow me, Combeferre?’ Enjolras looked around at his friend, who seemed confused but adjusted to the situation really quickly. He nodded and the three of them ran out of the room. 

-:- 

It was easy to follow the path Grantaire lied in front of him, it cut through the ship like a knife, finding the fastest way towards his friend. They found Eponine just as she moved the dagger out of her stomach. She looked up at them with wide eyes before her legs gave out and she fall to her knees. Combeferre swore very unlike himself as he rushed forward. ‘Enjolras,’ she breathed sharp. ‘They told me to kill you, but I fixed it. I fixed it.’ 

‘Ep, who told you?’ Enjolras said confused, looking around the storage room to see if they had missed someone, but he knew there was nobody there. 

‘The dagger… It needed to stab you, but I fixed it…’ Her eyes closed and she fall forward into Combeferre’s arms. 

‘Enjolras, go find out what the hell is going on here,’ Combeferre ordered him, lying Eponine down and pressing both his hands to her stomach to stop the bleeding. ‘Bossuet, go find Joly.’ 

‘He’s already on his way,’ Bossuet said. ‘There’s something outside the ship.’ 

Go. 

Enjolras turned around and ran back.


End file.
